Four members of the Canadian army have died and dozens were injured in a main fire at a base in the province of Alberta.
Addressing the nation on Sunday from Ottawa, Prime Minister Mark Carney described it as “one of the worst tragedies for the forces on Canadian soil in peacetime”.
The fire broke out at about 16:00 native time (22:00 GMT) on Saturday at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, one of the nation’s busiest army coaching bases, and is now contained. Its cause is still unclear, but officers said it did not seem tied to “terrorist activity”.
“The nation is in mourning for those brave members of our armed forces who we have lost,” said Carney.
The BBC has confirmed that Sgt Morgan Wong, Pte Shaun Farrell, Pte Aidan Goulding and Pte Hayden Lykkemark have died.
Of the 39 injured people being cared for in hospital, at least 19 are in a vital situation, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said at a press briefing on Sunday night.
Fire and rescue groups are remaining at the scene to include any potential flare-ups, Wainwright Mayor Bruce Pugh advised the BBC.
Members of the infantry had been conducting “high-intensity combat training with live munitions” at a grenade vary and attack vary, where 10 troopers practise attacking a simulated enemy, Maj-Gen Wade Rutland advised reporters at the briefing.
“There was a multitude of ordnance moving through the Wainwright training area,” he said, including a grenade launcher, grenades, small arms and ammunition.
A grass fire ignited about 1km (0.6 miles) away, with the cause at the moment under investigation, and moved toward the attack vary.
“What I would say is there was multiple training activities happening throughout the training area at the time,” he said. “Uncommonly strong winds caused the fire to spread rapidly and shift direction towards the range administrative area.”
Cannon fire had been heard coming from the base on Saturday before it out of the blue stopped, Mayor Pugh advised the BBC, noting it’s not unusual to hear cannons being fired there.
News then came through that native emergency providers had been deployed to an “all hands on deck” state of affairs.
Carney said army and emergency crews fought the flames all through the night time in “some of the worst conditions imaginable”.
The people who were damage were on the attack vary and included reservists and troopers from the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, officers said.
In a assertion early on Sunday, the Canadian Armed Forces said that “while the incident remains under investigation, at this time, there are no indications that it was the result of any terrorist activity”.
Rutland advised the briefing: “We do not believe this [incident] to be a result of any oil and gas infrastructure nor any outside interference”.
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