Fire kills four soldiers and injures dozens at military base An explosion occurred last week at a grenade launcher range in the Canadian province of Alberta during a training exercise, officials said Thursday.
A fire broke out at the automatic grenade launcher range at Wainwright Air Force Base in Canada on October 17 “during a routine military training activity.” Canadian Army Provost Gen. Vanessa Hanrahan said in a statement Thursday.
Hanrahan said the fire initially remained within the range’s “Permanent Hazard Zone 2,” which limited firefighters’ ability to directly attack the blaze and forced crews to monitor the fire throughout the day.
However, the fire spread due to “subsequent changes in wind direction and speed,” which “significantly increased the intensity and speed of the fire, leading to these tragic events,” Hanrahan added.
She revealed there was no indication the fire involved natural gas infrastructure.
The fire killed 4 soldiers and injured 39 others. The Canadian Armed Forces said Thursday that 27 soldiers remain in hospital and 12 have been treated and released.
Earlier this week, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the fire “was driven by strong winds” and “spread nearly a kilometer in less than a minute to reach where soldiers were gathering.”
Carney said 50 investigators were dispatched to investigate the fire. The Canadian Forces National Investigation Service led the investigation with support from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
“We will work as quickly and as transparently as possible to find answers to the causes of this terrible tragedy,” Carney told reporters on Monday.
The fire swept through soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry and Army reservists conducting live-fire training.
Maj. Gen. Wade Rutland said Sunday that military officials had been aware of the fire for hours but believed it was under control and allowed training to continue before a sudden shift in wind direction.
About 84 soldiers of Charlie Company trained at two locations, one where they threw grenades and the other where they practiced attacking simulated enemy positions. The fire spread to a second area.
Carney said the soldiers are preparing for a mission next spring to reinforce Canadian troops serving in Latvia.
Rutland said investigators will examine whether wind blew the flames toward the soldiers or whether the fire spread unseen through vegetation. He said they would also examine whether military security procedures needed to be changed.
The military identified the victim as Sgt. Morgan Wong of Edmonton; Private. Shaun Farrell of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan; Private. Aidan Goulding, of North Vancouver, British Columbia; and Pvt. Hayden Lykkemark is from Langley, British Columbia.