By Amanda Stephenson
CALGARY, Oct 18 (Reuters) - A fire that killed at least four soldiers and left 19 people in critical condition began with a smoldering grass fire that ignited in an Alberta military base's training area where personnel were drilling, Canadian officials said Sunday.
Officials said 39 people were in hospitals as a result of the fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, which began around 4 p.m. MDT (2200 GMT) on Saturday. Winds up to 60 miles per hour (96 kilometers per hour) fed the flames.
Major General Wade Rutland described the fire as an "uncommon, rapid" event.
“I’ve certainly never seen anything like it," said Rutland, commander of 1st Canadian Division, which is based in Edmonton, about 210 km (130 miles) west of the military site.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said earlier Sunday that the fire was one of the worst peacetime tragedies ever for Canada's armed forces on home soil.
"The nation is in mourning for those brave members of our Armed Forces whom we have lost," Carney said Sunday, adding that he had ordered flags on federal buildings across the country to be lowered to half-staff to honor the victims.
CFB Wainwright had 1,310 military and civilian personnel stationed there as of 2021, according to census data. National Defence Minister David McGuinty said on Sunday he would go to the city for briefings on the situation.
The base houses the Canadian Manoeuvre Training Centre, which runs training scenarios and exercises for the army. Carney said those affected in Saturday's fire came from military bases across the country.
Military and civilian firefighters fought the fire through the night in "some of the worst conditions imaginable," Carney said.
Air ambulances from Edmonton and Saskatoon, which is about 300 km from Wainwright, flew to the military base on Saturday, Carney said. Patients are being treated in Edmonton, Wainwright, Calgary and Red Deer, he said.
Health staff in Edmonton said a "code orange," or mass-casualty event, was declared to coordinate the medical response for patients being transported from Wainwright, CBC News reported.
The town of Wainwright, with a population of about 6,600, is just north of the base.
The municipality posted on social media that the fire had crossed the base fence into the nearby district but no evacuation orders had been issued. It said on Sunday that the fire is not expected to spread beyond its current boundaries.
(Reporting by Amanda Stephenson in Calgary; Editing by Sergio Non, Cynthia Osterman and Edmund Klamann)
