A recent fire at a Canadian military base has resulted in the deaths of four soldiers and injuries to 39 others. The incident occurred during routine training on an automatic grenade launcher range.
What happened
According to military officials, the fire began on the grenade launcher range before spreading to another range. Brig.-Gen. Vanessa Hanrahan stated that investigators will examine decisions made by commanders after the fire started and how personnel responded as it spread.
Investigations will also look into whether changes in wind direction were communicated to soldiers training on the other range. Preliminary findings indicated there were no explosions, and no base infrastructure was damaged.
Military officials have assembled a team of 30 people, including the Military Police and Alberta's chief medical examiner's office, to investigate the incident. The Army will also conduct an internal review to identify lessons learned and make recommendations to prevent similar incidents.
The soldiers involved in the incident were training for a deployment to Latvia alongside other NATO forces. Training has since resumed, with modifications to safety guidelines based on preliminary investigation results.
The incident has put a significant strain on the local healthcare system, with 19 intensive care nurses and five operating room nurses brought in from Toronto to assist with the treatment of burn victims.
