Smoke Hangs Over Scorched Alberta Farmland After Deadly Military Base Fire

Blackened fields and drifting smoke stretched to the horizon at sunset on Saturday, October 17, after a wind-driven grass fire that killed four Canadian soldiers at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright jumped the base fence and burned onto nearby farmland in central Alberta.

Brey Keller filmed the aftermath from his family’s land southwest of the town of Wainwright a few hours after the fire was brought under control, thanking all the first responders. A wire fence runs through the frame and marks exactly where the flames stopped: dry yellow grass is left standing on one side, while the ground on the other side is charred black and dotted with the burned skeletons of small trees and shrubs. Smoke rises against an orange and red sky as a crescent moon appears above, and the flashing light of an emergency vehicle can be seen through the haze down the fence line. A small white shed on the unburned side of the property escaped untouched.

The fire broke out on the base, about 200 kilometers southeast of Edmonton, where 84 soldiers from Charlie Company of the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, were training with live munitions in preparation for possible deployment overseas, including to Latvia. Maj.-Gen. Wade Rutland, commander of the 1st Canadian Division, said officers knew about a grass fire about a kilometer away but did not consider it a threat until strong winds suddenly changed direction at around 4 p.m. “The fire was a kilometre away when the wind shifted. It is not normal for a fire to move a kilometre in 30 to 60 seconds,” he said. Environment Canada had issued a high-wind warning for Alberta earlier that day, with gusts of up to 100 km/h in parts of the province.

Four soldiers were killed: Sgt. Morgan Wong of Edmonton, Pte. Shaun Farrell of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, and Pte. Aidan Goulding and Pte. Hayden Lykkemark of British Columbia. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said 39 people were in hospital, 19 of them in critical condition, many with severe burns. Prime Minister Mark Carney called the fire “one of the worst tragedies” for the Canadian Armed Forces on Canadian soil in peacetime, ordered flags lowered to half-mast, and said 50 investigators were examining what happened. Military officials said early findings suggest a munition from the training may have started the fire, but they stressed that the cause is still under investigation and that oil and gas infrastructure on the base is not believed to have been involved.

The Municipal District of Wainwright said the fire was being held with a fire watch in place, and no evacuation order was issued for residents. Officials thanked fire crews, emergency responders and partner agencies for protecting homes, property and critical infrastructure.