Four killed after high winds turn grass fire deadly at Canadian military base, report says

CALGARY: A fire at an Alberta military base that killed at least four people and seriously injured dozens started with a smouldering grass fire that was whipped into a wall of flames by high winds, Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper reported on Sunday (Oct 18).

The fire then engulfed Canadian Armed Forces members at a firing range, the newspaper said, citing internal military communications.

The Canadian government on Sunday confirmed four deaths at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright but has not publicly commented on the cause of the fire, which took place at about 4pm on Saturday (6am Sunday, Singapore time) in a training area at the base as winds gusted up to 96 kilometres per hour.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said the fire was one of the worst peacetime tragedies ever for Canada's armed forces on home soil.

"The nation is in mourning for those brave members of our Armed Forces whom we have lost," Carney said Sunday, adding that he had ordered flags on federal buildings across the country to be lowered to half-staff to honor the victims.

CBC, the government-funded national broadcaster, previously reported seven deaths at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, citing unnamed sources. Canadian authorities have said the situation continues to evolve, and that they will not confirm casualty figures until next of kin have been notified.

Internal military communications indicate that the fire "very seriously" injured 31 people, the Globe and Mail reported.

CFB Wainwright had 1310 military and civilian personnel stationed there as of 2021, according to census data. The base, one of Canada's largest, is about 210 km east of Edmonton in Alberta. National Defence Minister David McGuinty said on Sunday he would go to the city for briefings on the situation.

The base houses the Canadian Manoeuvre Training Centre, which runs training scenarios and exercises for the army. Carney said those affected in Saturday's fire came from military bases across the country.

Military and civilian firefighters fought the fire through the night in "some of the worst conditions imaginable," Carney said.

Canadian officials are expected to address the public from Wainwright, which is located in a largely rural area, later on Sunday afternoon.

Air ambulances from Edmonton and Saskatoon, which is about 300 km from Wainwright, flew to the military base on Saturday, Carney said. Patients are being treated in Edmonton, Wainwright, Calgary and Red Deer, he said.

Health staff in Edmonton said a "code orange," or mass-casualty event, was declared to coordinate the medical response for patients being transported from Wainwright, CBC News reported.

The town of Wainwright, with a population of about 6,600, is just north of the base.

The municipality posted on social media that the fire had crossed the base fence into the nearby district but no evacuation orders had been issued. It said on Sunday that the fire is not expected to spread beyond its current boundaries.