On a training ground in Alberta, a grass fire carried by the wind reached a company of young soldiers in October, and the long reckoning that follows such events has now claimed a fifth life. Private William Douglas Dal Bianco died in an Ontario hospital, having fought for weeks after the flames reached the roughly 84 members of his battalion who were rehearsing attack maneuvers. The country's institutions have begun two parallel searches, one for what happened and one for how such a thing might be prevented, and the Prime Minister has named the loss among the gravest peacetime tragedies the m
Fifth Canadian Soldier Dies From Injuries in Wainwright Training Fire
Five Canadian soldiers have died and 24 remain hospitalized after being caught in a wind-driven grass fire during training.
Five soldiers dead, 24 still hospitalized, and the cause not yet explained
Mark
Five soldiers are now dead. What changed with this announcement?
Mimi
Pvt. William Douglas Dal Bianco died Friday in an Ontario hospital. He'd been treated there since the Oct. 17 fire at Wainwright, and the military confirmed it Saturday.
Mark
How many people were actually in the fire's path?
Mimi
About 84 soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, doing attack training. Wind pushed the flames toward them.
Luke
Note the word "about." The 84 is approximate, and we haven't been told how many were injured in total, only that 24 remain hospitalized.
Mark
The dead range from 19 to 26 years old. Does that matter?
Mimi
It's part of why the prime minister spoke of their bright futures. Lykkemark was 19, Farrell and Goulding 23, Wong, a sergeant, 26. Dal Bianco's age wasn't given.
Luke
Right, and I'd keep it at that. We know ages and hometowns, not much about the individuals beyond that.
Mark
Do we know what caused the fire?
Luke
No. The reporting says military police are investigating and a separate board of inquiry will examine the circumstances. Nothing on cause or fault has been released.
Mimi
The board's job is also forward-looking: it's to recommend ways to prevent something similar.
Mark
And Carney's description?
Luke
That's his characterization: one of the worst peacetime tragedies for the military on Canadian soil. It's a judgment, not a figure we can check here.
Le Pouls
- A wind-driven grass fire swept across a training ground, catching about 84 soldiers in its path during attack drills.
- Five young soldiers are now dead, and the death toll rose again when Private Dal Bianco succumbed to his injuries in Ontario.
- Twenty-four soldiers remain in hospital, their recovery shadowing every update from the base.
- Military police and a separate board of inquiry are working to establish how the fire started and what failed.
- The Prime Minister has called it one of the worst peacetime tragedies on Canadian soil, and the answers have yet to arrive.
On a training ground in Alberta, a grass fire carried by the wind reached a company of young soldiers in October, and the long reckoning that follows such events has now claimed a fifth life. Private William Douglas Dal Bianco died in an Ontario hospital, having fought for weeks after the flames reached the roughly 84 members of his battalion who were rehearsing attack maneuvers. The country's institutions have begun two parallel searches, one for what happened and one for how such a thing might be prevented, and the Prime Minister has named the loss among the gravest peacetime tragedies the military has borne on home soil. Whether those inquiries yield clear answers remains, for now, an open question.
On a Friday, Pvt. William Douglas Dal Bianco died at a hospital in Ontario, where he had been treated since October 17. The Canadian Armed Forces announced his death the following day. He is the fifth soldier to die from injuries sustained in the grass fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, southeast of Edmonton.
The fire broke out while roughly 84 soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, were conducting attack training. Wind pushed the flames toward the troops. The material released so far does not say how the fire began.
The four others who died were Pvt. Shaun Farrell, 23, of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan; Pvt. Aidan Goulding, 23, of North Vancouver; Pvt. Hayden Lykkemark, 19, of Langley, British Columbia; and Sgt. Morgan Wong, 26, of Edmonton. The military says 24 soldiers are still hospitalized.
Prime Minister Mark Carney wrote that the soldiers were training to defend Canada and that, with bright futures before them, they chose to safeguard ours. Military police are investigating the fire, and a military board of inquiry will examine the circumstances and recommend prevention measures. Neither has released findings yet.
On Friday, Pvt. William Douglas Dal Bianco died at a hospital in Ontario, where he had been treated since the grass fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in Alberta on Oct. 17. The Canadian Armed Forces announced his death on Saturday. He is the fifth soldier to die from injuries suffered in the fire.
The fire broke out while about 84 soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, were conducting attack training at the base, which lies southeast of Edmonton. Wind drove the flames from the grass fire toward the troops. The military has not, in the material released so far, described how the fire started.
The human toll remains substantial. The military said Saturday that 24 soldiers are still hospitalized. Dal Bianco's death raises the number of dead to five, among a group of roughly 84 soldiers who were on the training ground.
The four other soldiers who died are Pvt. Shaun Farrell, 23, of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan; Pvt. Aidan Goulding, 23, of North Vancouver, British Columbia; Pvt. Hayden Lykkemark, 19, of Langley, British Columbia; and Sgt. Morgan Wong, 26, of Edmonton.
Prime Minister Mark Carney responded in a social media post. "Private Dal Bianco and his fellow soldiers were training to defend Canada," he wrote. "With their bright futures still before them, they chose to safeguard ours. That is service." Carney has previously described the fire as one of the worst peacetime tragedies for Canada's military on Canadian soil.
Two separate inquiries are under way. Military police are investigating the fire itself. Apart from that, a military board of inquiry will examine the circumstances of the tragedy and recommend measures meant to prevent similar incidents. Neither body has released findings.
What to watch next: the condition of the 24 soldiers still in hospital, and whether the police investigation and the board of inquiry produce public answers about how a training exercise ended this way.
Citations marquantes
Private Dal Bianco and his fellow soldiers were training to defend Canada. With their bright futures still before them, they chose to safeguard ours. That is service.— Prime Minister Mark Carney, social media post
Envie de l'histoire complète ?
Lire l'original sur Breitbart News Network ↗