Photo: CdnMCG / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Several people have been killed and many more injured after an explosion set off a large fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in Alberta, one of Canada’s busiest army training bases, the country’s defence minister said late on Saturday (local time). David McGuinty confirmed there had been “both fatalities and injuries” but did not say how many people were affected or what caused the blast.
Multiple Canadian Armed Forces sources told Canadian broadcaster Global News that at least seven people had died and dozens were hurt. Officials have not confirmed that figure. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the military are jointly investigating.
What is known so far
According to the same military sources, a live-fire training exercise struck a gas line or gas well on the base at around 4 pm local time, triggering an explosion. The fire that followed spread quickly as a windstorm swept across much of the province, with gusts of up to 100 km/h. Local authorities said the blaze crossed the base fence into the surrounding Municipal District of Wainwright, which set up an emergency coordination centre. No evacuation order had been issued, and McGuinty said the nearby town was not under threat.
I cannot recall an incident like this in recent memory.
David McGuinty, Canada’s Minister of National Defence
The minister called it a “very, very active and delicate” situation and said the government would share more information in the coming days.
Hospitals in Edmonton on disaster footing
Air ambulances were sent from Edmonton and Saskatoon. Health facilities in Wainwright were overwhelmed, and Edmonton declared a “code orange”, a disaster protocol that lets hospitals clear space and call in extra teams for a sudden surge of patients. An emergency physician at the city’s Royal Alexandra Hospital described it as a disaster on a scale seen once every 15 to 25 years. Local officials asked residents to stay away from the Wainwright Health Centre unless they had a critical medical need.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said a “serious incident creating a major fire” had taken place and that Ottawa was working closely with Alberta’s government. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith called it a “significant and tragic” fire affecting many military personnel. The Chief of the Defence Staff, General Jennie Carignan, said the welfare of service members, their families and the local community was the priority.
Why the base matters
CFB Wainwright lies about 200 km southeast of Edmonton, just south of a town of roughly 6,600 people. It is the Canadian Army’s main ground for live-fire exercises, where infantry, artillery and air units train together before deployments, and it houses the Canadian Manoeuvre Training Centre and the 3rd Canadian Division Training Centre. It has around 690 military personnel and 300 civilian staff on a normal day, with more during large exercises.
What happens next
Firefighters from several jurisdictions were still battling the blaze late on Saturday, and investigators are yet to establish the cause or release a casualty count. The fire also forced Elections Alberta to close the Wainwright advance polling station on the final day of early voting for the province’s October 19 referendum, with ballot boxes moved to a secure location.
