Fire kills multiple at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright
Windstorm drives blaze across base fence as Edmonton hospitals absorb mass casualties, defence minister gives no figures or cause
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Paramedics deal with one of the injured at the Wainwright health centre in Alberta, Canada. Photograph: John Ulan/The Canadian Press/AP
theguardian.com
Emergency crews and military personnel gather at the Wainwright Health Centre on Saturday. Photograph: John Ulan/The Canadian Press/AP
theguardian.com
A fire tore through Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in Alberta on Saturday, killing and injuring a number of people that officials have not yet counted. Defence minister David McGuinty confirmed both fatalities and injuries but gave no figures and no cause, describing the situation at the base as "active and delicate" and saying he could not recall a comparable incident in recent memory.
The scale of the emergency showed up in the civilian response. Patients were distributed across hospitals in Edmonton, 180km north-west, with air ambulances dispatched from both Edmonton and Saskatoon. Officials asked city residents to stay away from the University of Alberta's emergency department so its beds could be kept free for base victims, and the nearby community of Wainwright saw its healthcare facilities completely overwhelmed by the number of people needing care. Dr Warren Thirsk, an emergency physician at Edmonton's Royal Alexandra hospital, told CBC the casualty load was "more patients than any of us want to count right now" — "a one in every 15 to 25-year disaster."
High winds did much of the work. A windstorm with gusts up to 100km/h toppled trees and sent bins rolling through streets across large areas of Alberta on Saturday, and the fire jumped the base's fence and spread rapidly. Firefighters from multiple jurisdictions responded; no evacuation order was in effect for the surrounding district. Flares were spotted in the sky over the area, and military medical paratroopers dropped onto a local school football field.
Prime minister Mark Carney wrote on social media that "a serious incident creating a major fire" had occurred at the base, adding that his thoughts were with "all the brave women and men affected." Alberta premier Danielle Smith called the fire "significant and tragic," and Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe said his province was sending assistance without specifying what. Gen Jennie Carignan, chief of the defence staff, called it "a profoundly difficult moment for the entire Canadian armed forces."
The RCMP is investigating what started the blaze. CFB Wainwright is one of Canada's busiest military training bases, where soldiers prepare for combat operations; on Sunday, the day after the fire, the number of people it killed had not been made public.