Grenade exercise sparked deadly fire at Canada military base, army says

High winds propelled the blaze across the army base in Wainwright, killing four soldiers and injuring dozens more.

Firefighers and emergency services close to Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in Wainwright, Alberta, Canada [Megan Albu/AFP]

A fire that killed four soldiers at a western Canadian military base was sparked by an exercise using live grenades, a military official said.

The deadly fire broke out on a grenade launcher range during military exercises on Saturday, with high winds propelling it across the base, Brigadier-General Vanessa Hanrahan, commander of the Canadian Forces Military Police Group, told reporters on Thursday.

“A subsequent change in wind direction and velocity significantly increased the fire’s intensity,” she added, with the flames spreading to a training area at the Wainwright military base in Alberta.

Due to the blaze being in the “permanent danger area” of the range, firefighters were unable to directly combat it, Hanrahan added.

The fire spread on Saturday afternoon during high-intensity combat training involving Charlie Company of the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.

The military base lies in the prairies, a landscape of wide, open grasslands, rolling plains and scattered groves of trees.

About 84 soldiers were split between a grenade range and an area where they practised attacks on simulated enemy positions. The fire swept into the second training area.

Four soldiers died and 39 were injured, with 27 requiring hospitalisation. The incident was one of the worst peacetime tragedies for Canada’s military.

The soldiers and reserve members were participating in exercises ahead of a planned deployment to Latvia, where Canadian forces have their largest international military operation.

The Wainwright base is one of the largest bases operated by the Canadian Armed Forces. It regularly hosts training exercises involving military personnel from NATO countries.

During the final months of World War II and for several months in 1946, the base was used as an internment centre for German prisoners of war.

强风将火势迅速蔓延至温赖特陆军基地，造成四名士兵死亡，数十人受伤。

加拿大艾伯塔省温赖特市，加拿大温赖特军事基地附近的消防员和紧急救援人员 [Megan Albu/AFP]

一名军方官员表示，加拿大西部一军事基地发生的火灾造成四名士兵死亡，起因是使用实弹手榴弹进行的演习。

加拿大武装部队宪兵队指挥官瓦妮莎·汉拉汉准将周四告诉记者，周六军事演习期间，一处榴弹发射器靶场发生致命火灾，强风将其吹过整个基地。

她补充说：“随后风向和风速的变化显著加剧了火势”，火焰蔓延到艾伯塔省温赖特军事基地的一个训练区。

汉拉汉补充说，由于火灾发生在靶场的“永久危险区”，消防员无法直接扑灭火灾。

周六下午，加拿大皇家轻步兵团第三营查理连在进行高强度战斗训练时发生火灾并迅速蔓延。

这座军事基地位于大草原上，那里地貌广阔开阔，遍布绵延起伏的平原和零星的树林。

大约84名士兵被分成两组，一组在手榴弹射击场训练，另一组在模拟敌方阵地进行攻击演练。炮火迅速蔓延到第二个训练区。

四名士兵死亡，39人受伤，其中27人需要住院治疗。这起事件是加拿大军队在和平时期遭遇的最严重悲剧之一。

这些士兵和预备役人员正在参加演习，为即将部署到拉脱维亚做准备。加拿大军队在拉脱维亚开展着规模最大的国际军事行动。

温赖特基地是加拿大武装部队运营的最大基地之一。它定期举办涉及北约国家军事人员的训练演习。

在第二次世界大战的最后几个月以及 1946 年的几个月里，该基地被用作德国战俘的拘留中心。