Late in a training season on the Alberta prairie, a grass fire driven by wind reached a unit of young soldiers and turned an ordinary exercise into grief that now stretches across several families and provinces. Pvt. William Douglas Dal Bianco, who died in an Ontario hospital, is the fifth to fall in the aftermath of that October afternoon at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright. The country's leaders have named the event among the gravest peacetime losses the military has suffered on home soil, and the questions it raises, how the flames came to reach the troops and what must change, now rest with
Fifth Canadian Soldier Dies From Injuries in Wind-Driven Training Fire at CFB Wainwright
Five Canadian soldiers have died and 24 remain hospitalized after a wind-driven grass fire swept through troops during training.
Five soldiers dead, 24 still in hospital, and no word yet on cause
Mark
Five dead from one training exercise. How big was the unit involved?
Mimi
About 84 soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. They were doing attack training at CFB Wainwright on Oct. 17 when wind pushed a grass fire toward them.
Mark
And Dal Bianco died almost a month later?
Mimi
Yes, on Friday, in a hospital in Ontario. He'd been treated there since the fire. The military announced it Saturday.
Luke
Worth noting the 84 is given as approximate, and we aren't told how many were actually injured. We know five have died and 24 are still hospitalized. That's the extent of it.
Mark
Who were the others who died?
Mimi
Pvt. Shaun Farrell, 23; Pvt. Aidan Goulding, 23; Pvt. Hayden Lykkemark, 19; and Sgt. Morgan Wong, 26. They came from Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Edmonton.
Mark
Why two investigations?
Mimi
Military police are looking at the fire itself. A separate board of inquiry will examine the circumstances and recommend ways to prevent a repeat.
Luke
And neither has said anything about cause. How the fire started, whether anything was missed, none of that is established. Prime Minister Carney calling it one of the worst peacetime tragedies on Canadian soil is his characterization, not a finding.
Mimi
Right. The next real answers come from those inquiries, and from how the 24 hospitalized soldiers fare.
Le Pouls
- A fifth Canadian soldier has died after a wind-driven grass fire swept through a training unit at CFB Wainwright on October 17.
- About 84 soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, PPCLI, were caught when flames turned toward them during attack training.
- Twenty-four soldiers remain in hospital, and their conditions have not been detailed publicly.
- Military police and a military board of inquiry are working in parallel, but no findings have been released.
- The Prime Minister has called the tragedy one of the worst peacetime losses for the military on Canadian soil, and answers about what went wrong are still pending.
Late in a training season on the Alberta prairie, a grass fire driven by wind reached a unit of young soldiers and turned an ordinary exercise into grief that now stretches across several families and provinces. Pvt. William Douglas Dal Bianco, who died in an Ontario hospital, is the fifth to fall in the aftermath of that October afternoon at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright. The country's leaders have named the event among the gravest peacetime losses the military has suffered on home soil, and the questions it raises, how the flames came to reach the troops and what must change, now rest with military police and a separate board of inquiry that have yet to speak.
Pvt. William Douglas Dal Bianco died on Friday in a hospital in Ontario, weeks after a grass fire tore through his unit during a training exercise in Alberta. The Canadian Armed Forces announced his death on Saturday, making him the fifth soldier to die from injuries sustained in the fire.
The blaze broke out on Oct. 17 at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, southeast of Edmonton. About 84 soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, were conducting attack training when wind pushed the flames toward them. The military says 24 soldiers remain hospitalized, with no further details offered on their condition.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, in a social media post, honoured Dal Bianco and his comrades: "With their bright futures still before them, they chose to safeguard ours. That is service." Four soldiers died before him: Pvt. Shaun Farrell, 23, of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan; Pvt. Aidan Goulding, 23, of North Vancouver; Pvt. Hayden Lykkemark, 19, of Langley; and Sgt. Morgan Wong, 26, of Edmonton.
Two separate reviews are underway. Military police are investigating the fire itself, while a military board of inquiry will examine the circumstances and recommend steps to prevent a repeat. No findings have been announced yet, and the answers about how the flames reached the troops remain to be found.
Pvt. William Douglas Dal Bianco died on Friday in a hospital in Ontario, where he had been treated since a grass fire tore through his unit during a training exercise in Alberta. The Canadian Armed Forces announced his death on Saturday. He is the fifth soldier to die from injuries in the fire.
The fire happened on Oct. 17 at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, southeast of Edmonton. About 84 soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, were doing attack training when wind pushed flames from a grass fire toward them.
The military said Saturday that 24 soldiers remain hospitalized. It did not offer further detail in the account available here about their conditions.
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 described the fire as one of the worst peacetime tragedies for Canada's military on Canadian soil.
Four other soldiers died before Dal Bianco. Pvt. Shaun Farrell was 23 and from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Pvt. Aidan Goulding was 23 and from North Vancouver, British Columbia. Pvt. Hayden Lykkemark was 19 and from Langley, British Columbia. Sgt. Morgan Wong was 26 and from Edmonton.
Two separate inquiries are under way. Military police are investigating the fire itself. A military board of inquiry, a distinct body, will examine the circumstances of the tragedy and recommend measures meant to prevent similar incidents.
No findings from either process have been announced. What caused the fire to reach the troops, and what changes follow, will come from those two reviews, along with word on the 24 soldiers still in hospital.
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 NBC News ↗