Blaze that killed 4 soldiers on Canadian military base sparked on grenade launcher range, officials say

October 22, 2026 / 10:50 PM EDT / CBS/AP

A blaze that killed four soldiers and injured several dozen more on a military base in the Canadian province of Alberta last week broke out on a grenade launcher range during training exercises, officials said Thursday.

The fire sparked Oct. 17 on the automatic grenade launcher range of Canadian Forces Base Wainwright "during routine military training activities," Brig. Gen. Vanessa Hanrahan, the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal, said in a statement Thursday.

The fire initially remained within the range's "Permanent Danger Area 2," which limited the ability of firefighters to battle it directly, Hanrahan said, and crews were forced to monitor it throughout the day instead.

However, it then spread due to "a subsequent change in wind direction and velocity" that "significantly increased the fire's intensity and rate of speed which led to these tragic events," Hanrahan added.

There was no indication that natural gas infrastructure was involved in the fire, she disclosed.

The fire killed four soldiers and injured 39 others. The Canadian Armed Forces said Thursday that 27 soldiers remained hospitalized, while 12 had been treated and released.

Earlier this week, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that the fire…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/world/