39 people in hospital after fire at Canadian military base, says Alberta premier

Alberta premier Danielle Smith said that 39 people had been admitted to hospital, including at least 19 in a critical condition, after a deadly fire at a Canadian military base.

Ms Smith said patients were transferred from Canadian Forces Base Wainwright to four hospitals across Alberta.

She said some suffered severe burns and could face weeks or months of intensive treatment.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney earlier confirmed that four service members were killed in the fire, which broke out on Saturday during military training.

He described it as one of the worst peacetime tragedies for Canada’s military on domestic soil.

Fire crews scrambled late on Saturday as fierce winds whipped flames beyond Canadian Forces Base Wainwright and into the surrounding rural area.

The Canadian military said on Sunday there were no indications that the incident was the result of terrorism, but the cause remained under investigation.

Speaking in a televised address, Mr Carney said the families of those killed had been notified and that the situation was still evolving.

Mr Carney said the service members killed and injured were participating in military training when the fire broke out on Saturday.

Flags would fly at half-mast on federal buildings across the country in honour of those affected by the tragedy, he said.

Mr Carney said those affected included reservists and soldiers from Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, one of Canada’s most celebrated military regiments.

The personnel had come from bases across the country to train at Wainwright.

Alberta health officials said patients from Wainwright had been transferred to four hospitals — two in Edmonton, one in Red Deer and one in Calgary.

Cathy Keane, a mayoral candidate in Ontario, said her eldest son was among the military personnel critically injured.

“As a mother, right now I need to be with my son and family,” she wrote on Facebook, saying she was travelling to Alberta.

A doctor at a hospital in the city of Edmonton, 112 miles (180km) north-west, told Canada’s national broadcaster that patients were taken to hospitals across the city as healthcare facilities around the base became “completely overwhelmed” by the number of people needing care.

“This number of patients would overwhelm the city of Edmonton,” Dr Warren Thirsk, an emergency department physician at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, told CBC News.

“It is more patients than any of us want to count right now. It’s a disaster. It’s a one in every 15-to-25-year disaster.”

Alberta health officials said on Sunday they had ended the Code Orange emergency activated at several hospitals after the fire. The designation allows hospitals to mobilise staff and free up beds to handle large numbers of seriously injured patients.

The province said the response involved 22 ground ambulances, six airplanes and two helicopters, with assistance from neighbouring Saskatchewan.

Wainwright mayor Bruce Pugh said the town’s small hospital was not designed to handle a mass-casualty incident but praised the response of local medical personnel.

He said helicopters and planes had been transporting patients to other facilities for treatment.

Mr Pugh said military medical personnel parachuted into Wainwright shortly before midnight, their red parachutes illuminated by flares, as reinforcements arrived to help respond to the disaster.

At least 10 ambulances were parked in and around the Wainwright health centre late on Saturday as paramedics and soldiers rushed about.

One patient was seen being loaded into an ambulance.

The town of Wainwright, near the base, has about 7,000 residents.

Defence minister David McGuinty said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were involved in investigating the incident and described the situation as “very, very active and delicate”.

He said authorities were still working to determine what happened and expected to provide further information.

Mr McGuinty said on Sunday he was travelling to Edmonton to be briefed on the latest developments. He said the military was working closely with Alberta’s government and local authorities.

Mr Carney said on Sunday that the families of the four service members killed had been informed.

Canadian Forces Base Wainwright is one of the country’s busiest military training bases, where soldiers prepare for combat operations.

It is home to the Canadian Manoeuvre Training Centre, which conducts realistic battlefield exercises, and the 3rd Canadian Division Training Centre, which provides military training.