10/18/26 14:55
Residents had heard bombing all week at the training base
– Carrie Tait
Keith Brower lives just north of CFB Wainwright and said the noise and smoke emanating from the base on Saturday didn’t phase him – at first.
“It didn’t seem unusual because they’ve been bombing out there, or shooting, practicing all week long,” he said after Sunday’s service at Wainwright’s Church of the Nazarene. Fire on the base is also common, he said, especially in the spring when the grass is dry.
“We just saw a plume of smoke and it didn’t seem unusual at the time, because we’ve seen it before,” he said. “We’re used to training out there, for sure.”
Tim Valleau coaches the Wainwright Commandos, the local high school football team. He said three or four retired military personnel are also on the coaching staff. The team doctor, Mr. Valleau said, would have been at the hospital Saturday evening.
Mr. Valleau also lives near the base. “We could hear the bombing non-stop, just as a normal, everyday occurrence.”
But his mom told him she heard a “really loud explosion” and saw “the flash of red and knew it was something different.”
Mr. Valleau said the football team was scheduled to play Sunday, against Cold Lake, another northeast Alberta community that is home to a military base.
10/18/26 14:53
Crews still working to put out parts of fire
– Jana G. Pruden
A vast area of rolling grasslands around the base was charred black, with white-grey smoke still drifting out of stands of trees in the gusting wind on Sunday afternoon.
Wainwright Fire Chief Aime Smyl said there were about 30 firefighters still working to put out hotspots in the area. He noted that local fire crews were only responding to fire outside the base, to where the blaze moved into municipal land.
10/18/26 14:39
Fierce winds were predicted on day of fire
– Globe staff
The winds at CFB Wainwright on Saturday were fierce – and predicted.
Environment Canada data show that strong wind gusts picked up around 2 p.m. and reached a peak at 4 p.m., around the same time the military says the fire started. Hourly data shows gusts of 69 kilometres per hour at that time, with the maximum gust for the day of clocking in at 82 kilometres per hour.
Earlier in the day, the weather agency had predicted such weather. Forecasts issued at 5 a.m. and 11 a.m. Called for wind gusts of up to 80 kilometres per hour in the afternoon.
It was also dry in the region. Environment Canada data show that just 3.5 millimetres of rain had fallen so far in October, with no precipitation at all since last Monday.
10/18/26 14:18
Ontario mayoral candidate says her son among the injured at CFB Wainwright
– Grant Robertson
Cathy Keane, a mayoral candidate in Oro-Medonte, Ont., said on social media Sunday that her eldest son is among the soldiers injured in the incident, and that the family was on their way to Alberta to be with him.
“Overnight, our family received the devastating news that our eldest son is among the military personnel critically injured in the incident in Wainwright, Alberta, on Saturday,” Ms. Keane posted on Facebook.
“As a mother, right now I need to be with my son and family. I will be travelling to Alberta and unable to continue door-knocking for the remainder of the mayoral campaign,” Ms. Keane told the residents of Oro-Medonte. “Right now, I ask for your understanding as our family navigates an incredibly difficult and uncertain time. We are grateful for the kindness and support of our friends and community. Please hold your loved ones a little tighter tonight.”
Doug Shipley, MP for Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte, posted a message of support for the family on his Facebook account.
“A member of a local Oro-Medonte family was critically injured in a tragic incident involving our Canadian Armed Forces at CFB Wainwright last night,” Mr. Shipley said, asking people to “keep her family in your thoughts during this difficult time.”
10/18/26 12:30
Flags to fly at half-mast on federal buildings
– Steven Chase
Prime Minister Mark Carney made a statement from Parliament Hill a day after the fire broke out.
“The nation is in mourning for those brave members of our Armed Forces whom we have lost. And I have asked the flags on all federal buildings to be flown at half-mast to honour them,” Mr. Carney said.
He called the incident “one of the worst tragedies that our armed forces have experienced on Canadian soil in peacetime.”
The Prime Minister praised those who fought the fire and rescued victims.
“Military and civilian crews fought this fire throughout the night in some of the worst conditions imaginable, risking their lives to protect their fellow Canadians,” he said.
10/18/26 12:30
Reservists and soldiers from across the country impacted
– Steven Chase
Mr. Carney said those affected by the fire came from military bases across the country, including reservists and soldiers from the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.
“Throughout Canada’s history, the Princess Pats have fought for freedom, democracy, human dignity. In the First World War, in the Second, in Korea, in Afghanistan, and during numerous peacekeeping missions over decades.”
The Prime Minister pledged that Canada would support the victims and their families.
“We will be there for their families for as long as they need. We will care for the injured through every step of their recovery, and we will stand by the women and men of our armed forces as they bear the weight of this loss,” he said.
“They will not carry it alone, because in Canada, we take care of one another.”
10/18/26 12:00
Community gathers at church the morning after
– Carrie Tait
Open this photo in gallery:
Churchgoers bow their heads at the Wainwright Church of the Nazarene in a prayer for those killed and injured in the fire.Jesse Winter/The Globe and Mail
On Sunday morning, about two dozen people gathered at Wainwright’s Church of the Nazarene, where some military families occasionally worship, to pray for those killed, injured, or affected by the events the evening prior.
“It is with heavy hearts and concerned minds, as we think about the tragedy unfolding in our community,” Rev. Ryan Wood told the congregation. “We think of the families of those who have lost their lives, we want to pray for them today that in midst of this terrible loss and grief.”
He added: “We think about our first responders, people from our own community and surrounding communities, members of the miliary, who have been on a horrific scene, who are impacted by the tragedy and the lost that they’ve witnessed”
10/18/26 12:00
Code Orange declared on Saturday
– Globe staff
Acute Care Alberta, the agency that coordinates medical services at acute health centres in the province, said a Code Orange had been declared at several ERs “to coordinate a response to an incident that results in multiple severe patients needing care at the same time.”
The agency urged people in Edmonton to avoid going to the emergency department at the University of Alberta hospital so that patients coming from the military base could be prioritized.
10/18/26 12:00
Fire broke out around 4 p.m. local time Saturday
– Globe staff
The Department of National Defence said the incident began after a fire ignited at about 4 p.m. local time Saturday in the training area of the military base, which is located about 200 kilometres southeast of Edmonton. There’s no evidence so far that the Wainwright fire was caused by terrorism, the department said.
Around midnight, two bright red flares dropped from the sky before seven Canadian Forces members parachuted onto the football field of the local high school across the street from the Wainwright hospital. They were soon met by a helicopter that touched down to unload medical equipment, including what appeared to be a ventilator that the troops wheeled into the hospital.
Nearby, paramedics loaded two patients on stretchers into waiting ambulances, which then sped off.
By Sunday morning, the scene at the Wainwright Health Centre was quiet. The ambulances that had continued moving patients late into the night were gone.
Access to CFB Wainwright was blocked. At front gate of the base, civilian vehicles filed through a security checkpoint at sunrise.