WAINWRIGHT, Alberta — Fifty investigators are examining a fire at a Canadian military base that killed four soldiers and injured 39 others, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Monday, as questions mount over why training continued despite officials knowing a fire was burning nearby.
Speaking in Parliament in Ottawa, Carney said the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service was leading the investigation, with support from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, into Saturday's tragedy at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in Alberta.
Lawmakers observed a moment of silence before Carney addressed the House of Commons. Opposition party leaders also paid tribute.
“A fire was burning in the training area. Driven by ferocious winds, the fire jumped nearly a kilometer in less than a minute to where soldiers were gathered,” Carney said.
He said investigators had not determined what ignited the grass fire.
“We will get the answers to what caused this terrible tragedy, as expeditiously and transparently as necessary,” Carney later told reporters.
The fire overtook soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, and Army reservists conducting live-fire training.
Nineteen of the injured were in critical condition as of Monday. Conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre, who represents Wainwright in Parliament and was visiting the town, said many suffered severe burns requiring weeks or months of intensive care. He warned that their lives might never be the same.
Maj. Gen. Wade Rutland said Sunday that military officials knew about the fire for hours but believed it was contained and allowed training to continue before winds suddenly shifted.
About 84 soldiers from Charlie Company were training at two locations, one for throwing grenades and another for practicing attacks on simulated enemy positions. The fire swept into the second area.
Carney said the soldiers were preparing for a mission next spring to reinforce Canadian troops serving with NATO in Latvia.
Rutland said investigators would examine whether winds drove the flames toward the soldiers or whether the fire spread unseen through vegetation. They will also examine whether military safety procedures need to change.
The military identified those killed as Sgt. Morgan Wong of Edmonton; Pvt. Shaun Farrell of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan; Pvt. Aidan Goulding of North Vancouver, British Columbia; and Pvt. Hayden Lykkemark of Langley, British Columbia.
Carney remembered Goulding as someone who willingly took on difficult challenges, and Wong as someone his family could always depend on. He said Farrell and Lykkemark were best friends and that Lykkemark had dreamed of a career in law enforcement.
Poilievre recalled meeting Goulding during Canada Day celebrations at the base in July, when a group of young soldiers approached him for a photograph. After Saturday’s tragedy, someone sent him the picture identifying Goulding as one of those killed.
Poilievre also said he had heard accounts of soldiers who ran toward the flames to help their comrades, describing their actions as extraordinary acts of courage.
Military liaison officers were assisting families at hospitals in Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer and Wainwright. Mental health teams and chaplains were also supporting soldiers and their families.
Carney ordered flags lowered to half-staff on all federal buildings nationwide Sunday in honor of the four soldiers killed.
Flowers were placed at Wainwright’s century-old war memorial, a stone clock tower honoring soldiers killed in past conflicts. The tower survived a devastating fire that swept through downtown Wainwright in 1929.
“They were training to defend Canada. To serve Canada. Now, Canada serves them,” Carney said.
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Gillies reported from Edmonton, Alberta.
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