The grass fire that killed four soldiers and injured 39 at CFB Wainwright on Oct. 17 began during routine military training on an automatic grenade launcher range before spreading to another range, military officials say.
Brig.-Gen. Vanessa Hanrahan, the Canadian Armed Forces provost marshal, said during a news conference in Edmonton on Oct. 22 that as investigations continue, official would examine decisions made by commanders after the fire started and how personnel responded as it spread.
Investigators will also look into whether changes in wind direction were communicated to soldiers training on the other range, she said.
“It would be inappropriate for me to speculate now about all of those decisions and any of the other aspects of the investigation,” she said. “Once the investigative team has time to review all the evidence … I’ll be in a better position to provide accurate information as to the outcome of that investigation.”
Investigators also plan to interview soldiers involved in the incident, including those being treated at hospitals across Alberta.
Preliminary findings indicated there were no explosions, no natural gas infrastructure was involved, and no other base infrastructure was damaged, she said.
Firefighters could not reach the blaze on the grenade launcher range and instead monitored it visually throughout the day, Hanrahan said.
“It was the spread of the fire across the training area to the [other] range that they were using that is under investigation at this time,” she stated.
Some 30 people from the Military Police, Alberta’s chief medical examiner’s office, and the Army’s Board of Inquiry are involved in the investigations, she said, adding that she will release the findings once the investigations are complete.
Maj.-Gen. Wade Rutland said the soldiers were setting up for a “pairs’ range” attack, where two soldiers attack a target and cover one another. Those duos then combine to perform a section attack involving eight to 10 soldiers.
The major general added that the board would examine the circumstances surrounding the incident, identify lessons learned, and make recommendations to prevent similar incidents. He also said the Army will “not shy away from answers, whatever hard truths they may reveal.”
Rutland addressed concerns about how soldiers are trained and how decisions whether to continue with training if risks are present are made.
He said service personnel are called to “do things that are difficult, demanding, and usually dangerous,” which is “the nature of military service.” The soldiers were training for a deployment to Latvia alongside other NATO forces.
“We train realistically because in combat, lives depend on it,” Rutland continued, noting that the military takes measures to mitigate risk during training and performs after-action reviews to learn more lessons.
Rutland said training has resumed since the incident, with dry training—without ammunition—occurring on “static ranges” where a similar grass fire is unlikely to occur. Rutland also said recent training has been of a “completely different type,” and safety guidelines will change immediately based on preliminary investigation results.
Dr. Sayeh Zielke, interim CEO of Acute Care Alberta, said 19 intensive care nurses who specialize in burns and five operating room nurses have come from Toronto to provide assistance.
“We are coping right now, to be able to provide the care that is needed, but this is a marathon and not a sprint,” said Zielke, noting that it takes up to two hours for one nurse to change a burn victim’s bandages.
Zielke also said that this incident has been “one of the most challenging moments” the province’s healthcare system has ever faced. However, she said the system has absorbed the demand and ensured that the right resources are available.
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