What we've learned about the fire at CFB Wainwright that killed four Canadian soldiers and injured 39

Federal and provincial officials on the ground in Edmonton on Sunday afternoon provided an update on the fire that broke out at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Wainwright which led to four people dying and 39 more injured.

Maj.-Gen. L.W. Rutland, Commander of the 1st Canadian Division battalion, told reporters soldiers were undergoing a preparatory training activity at the CFB Wainwright when a grass fire broke out at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Rutland said the fire began a kilometre away when the wind shifted.

“I spoke to my commander on the ground last night and this morning and he said within 30 seconds to a minute they saw no fire, and then there was a fire right on top of them,” Rutland said.

“This was uncommon, rapid and I certainly hadn’t seen anything like it.”

Rutland said despite the forecast for wind conditions, the weather for the majority of Saturday was within standard protocol — well below 50 kilometres.

Within 20 to 30 minutes of the incident being reported, the first evacuation occurred and within less than an hour and a half there were multiple partners on the ground. Rutland described the response as “extremely rapid action” which is by design.

The training activity was for the Third Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Infantry for two roles — the Global Response Task Force and to go to Latvia in the spring. Rutland said it was the Charlie Company or “C Company” that was impacted.

There are about 84 soldiers in the C Company in the 350-plus range for the entire battalion, Rutland said.

Rutland said the activity was “high-intensity combat training” with live munitions. He said soldiers were split between throwing hand grenades on a hand grenade range and conducting a “section attack” where 10 soldiers attack a simulated enemy.

The fire moved quickly and struck what is called the administration area of the section attack range — the grenade range was not affected.

The size of the fire has not been determined, but Rutland said range control was aware there was a fire for several hours and were monitoring it. 

Rutland said soldiers train for all types of conditions and if protocols needs to change following the ongoing investigation they will. He would not comment on whether not the incident was preventable.

A fire marshal is currently on the ground investigating the cause of the fire. Rutland said the cause is not believed to be related to oil and gas facilities and teams have gone in to ensure the infrastructure is not damage with a preliminary assessment has determined it is not.

During the training exercise on Saturday grenade launchers, grenades and smaller arms ammunition were moving through the training area. Rutland said the cause of the fire could have been any of the listed or none at all.

The cause could be a multitude of things, Rutland said.

Rutland said with the number of casualties — four dead, 39 hospitalized and 19 of whom are in critical condition, along with the complexity it will take nearly a month for the board of inquiry to make a report to the public.

The families of the injured and deceased have all be notified.

Premier Danielle Smith said on Saturday 30 emergency units including 22 ground ambulances and eight aircraft were deployed directly Wainwright with dedicated medical teams across the Edmonton corridor and beyond.

“To handle the sudden surge, code orange protocols were activated at the facilities managing the rapid influx of injured patients,” Smith said.

“An active emergency response was sustained across the system for more than 10 hours, with patients transported and receiving care at facilities across the province.”

There were no armoured vehicles on site as it is a light infantry battalion, but there were trucks, ambulances and light vehicles on site. There is no information on the impact the fire had on vehicles.

The C Company has been moved out of the training area and the rest will move back home for a certain period of time. The remainder of the battalion took a “maintenance day” on Sunday and did not train to allow leadership to determine what will happen in the coming days.

“The rest of the battalion is still slated to go to Latvia, so they will pick up this training and and do it. Whether it’ll be tomorrow at a later date, I can’t say at this minute,” Rutland said.