'The army took it over, they got their people out — I'm proud of them'

WAINWRIGHT, Alta. — Grassfires are commonplace at CFB Wainwright’s training range but one volunteer firefighter said he wasn’t prepared for the horror of the fatal blaze that claimed four lives.

Less than two days after deadly blaze, the firefighter said he joined other first responders who hastened onto the base to extricate injured and dying soldiers.

Some of the burn injuries of the survivors were so bad, he said, he would not be surprised if the death toll were to rise.

What will stay with him the longest, said the man, who didn’t want to be identified, is the trauma marking the faces of the young soldiers who had no chance to escape the rampaging fire driven by winds of up to 100 km/h.

“It was awful, the fear in their faces … those poor troops, those young people,” he said.

“They didn’t even see it coming, it came so fast. The fire when through the whole training area in five minutes.”

But he credited army first responders with rescuing who they could in rapid fashion.

“The army took it over, they got their people out — I’m proud of them,” said the firefighter Monday as he was on his way to vote in the Alberta referendum.

Firefighters from various nearby jurisdictions converged on the scene, about 200 kilometres southeast of Edmonton or 420 kilometres northeast of Calgary.

But the man said he’s angry over what he calls conspiracy theories floating around the area and on social media expressing suspicions of what caused the blaze. Some mention live training ammunition striking oilpatch infrastructure, leading to a flash fire and contend the Canadian Armed Forces is covering it up.

“All the crazy stuff you’re hearing, it’s not true, the fire started (solely) with ammunition and then the 100 km/h winds took over,” he said.

“You never see 100 km/h winds whip up like that … there’s no conspiracy.”

The landscape, he noted, is also bone dry and potent fuel for wildfires.

At a press conference Sunday, Maj.-Gen. Wade Rutland who commands 1st Canadian Division, said officials haven’t yet determined the cause of the fire but have ruled out oilpatch infrastructure as a factor.

“(The wind) was uncommon, rapid, and I certainly hadn’t seen anything like it,” Rutland told reporters.

He said there were flames about one kilometre away from the exercise and it was considered safe for them to proceed.

An investigation into the incident has been launched, he said.

The four soldiers killed have been identified as Sgt. Morgan Wong, Pte. Shaun Farrell, Pte. Aidan Goulding and Pte. Hayden Lykkemark.

The blaze also sent 39 people to hospital, 19 of them in critical condition, as far away as Edmonton and Calgary.

A company of troops from 3 Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry were engaged in two training exercises, one involving hand grenades, when the fire engulfed them.

Some of the training was to prepare them for a deployment to Latvia next spring to join a Canadian brigade stationed there in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine.

On Monday, residents of Wainwright, which is adjacent to the military base, laid wreaths at a cenotaph in the middle of the town’s Main Street as a tribute to the fallen soldiers.

Joining them was federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who said he understands some military personnel ran into the fire to rescue colleagues.

“The fact that people in that moment, thinking about saving others, when there’s a wall of fire coming at you when everything in your nature screams ‘run away’,” said Poilievre. “(Burning) is the most horrific way to die or to be wounded.”

Poilievre said he’ll be in Wainwright on Remembrance Day Nov. 11 to honour the country’s war dead, including its latest casualties.

Catch up with the day’s headlines, curated by our editors and delivered to your email inbox at lunchtime on every business day. Sign up now for the Calgary Herald Noon News Roundup.