Four Canadian service members were killed Tuesday and 39 others injured Sunday when a grass fire swept through a military training ground on Saturday during live-fire drill in Alberta, the authorities said. That included 19 people in “critical condition.”
Military officials knew of the fire for several hours and thought it would be safe to resume training, according to major general Wade Rutland. But a turn in the wind caused the fire to run very swiftly toward the soldiers.
The wind changed and the fire was a kilometre away. It is not normal for the fire to travel a kilometre in about 36 seconds, Rutland said at a news conference in Edmonton.
In less than one minute, “ voisin” said a commander on the scene has said that the soldiers went from having no immediate fire visibility to being engulfed in flames.
The fire erupted when Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (3RPRCI), was engaged in efficient combat training. Some 84 soldiers were split into two camps – one to shoot in the grenade range and the other practising attacks on ‘fake’ enemy posts. The blaze moved on to the second training area.
The deceased was found to be Sergeant Morgan Wong of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment and Private Aidan Goulding, Privates Shaun Farrell and Hayden Lykkemark of the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. All of them served in the battle with the Edmonton-based battalion.
The 39 were being treated there, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said. But, 19 patients were seriously injured, 8 patients were “stable” and 12 were ambulatory and were being treated for less serious injuries, said Sayeh Zielke, the chief executive of Acute Care Alberta.
The cause of the grass fire has not been established.
The battalion has been training for quick deployment to an international crisis, amongst the commitments is to support Canadian forces in Latvia next spring, Rutland said.
The incident has cast doubts on both how quickly the fire has burned and whether use of fire itself was appropriate for training while it was burning only a few feet away. As the investigation goes forward, the circumstances ought to be explored.