What we know so far about deadly fire at Canadian military base

Image source, ReutersImage caption, The busy training base is located behind fences on remote land in Alberta.

Publicado18 Outubro 2026, 18:48 BST.

A huge fire swept through a Canadian military base on Saturday, killing at least four people and leaving 19 people in critical condition.

Prime Minister Mark Carney described it as one of the worst peace time tragedies on Canadian soil in the history of the military.

Here is what we know about the deadly incident so far.

O incêndio na Base das Forças Canadenses Wainwright começou por volta das 16:00 horário local (22:00 GMT).

O Major-General Wade Rutland, Comandante da 1ª Divisão Canadense, disse que um incêndio de grama foi iniciado em um campo de treinamento e “uncommonly strong winds caused it to spread rapidly and shift direction” em direção aos soldados que participavam de exercícios.

He said the cause of the initial fire remains under investigation.

Earlier, local media reported it may have been started when a gas main was struck during a live firing exercise, but the military later said that investigators do not believe any explosions were caused by oil or gas infrastructure.

Carney described the fire as "violent" and "fast-moving.

The prime minister said military and civilian fire crews "fought this fire throughout the night in some of the worst conditions imaginable, risking their lives to protect their fellow Canadians.

O Ministério da Defesa do Canadá afirmou que a causa permanece em investigação, e "no momento, não há indicações de que tenha sido resultado de qualquer atividade terrorista.

Carney: 'Canada must now serve' membros do serviço mortos em incêndio.

Four service members are confirmed to have died, while a further 39 people are in hospital - 19 of whom are in critical condition.

Officials have not indicated whether or not the government expects the death toll to rise but said many people had suffered severe burns.

On Saturday evening, Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton declared a code orange - a disaster response protocol for a high-casualty incident. It was stood down on Sunday afternoon.

Alberta's health service said the emergency response lasted for 10 hours, and involved 22 ambulances and eight aircraft.

O cuidado contínuo dos feridos deve ser “intensivo”, continuou a declaração.

A stream of ambulances were seen arriving at the hospital and one doctor told Canadian public broadcaster CBC that the facility had been "completely overwhelmed" by the number of patients.

A Base das Forças Canadenses Wainwright está localizada em uma área rural da província ocidental de Alberta – cerca de 120 milhas (193 km) de Edmonton e 180 milhas (290 km) de Calgary, as duas maiores cidades da província.

É uma das bases de treinamento militar mais movimentadas do Canadian Army e seu aeródromo também é usado pela Royal Canadian Air Force.

It population fluctuates but more than 1,000 people can be based there at any given time.