It is not an attack. It is an exercise that ran away. On Saturday, 17 October, around 16:00 local time, a grass fire started on a range at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, in Alberta. The wind, says Major-General Wade Rutland, commander of 1st Canadian Division, was uncommonly strong. The fire changed direction and moved a kilometre in 30 to 60 seconds, towards soldiers who were training. The BBC put the toll. AP held it. The cause of the spark remains under investigation.

Four service members died. Next of kin have been notified. Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed the figure on Sunday and called it one of the worst tragedies for the Forces on Canadian soil in peacetime. The army has given names to the press; we stay with the number until we read them from a full statement, not an alert. What is sure: four, from bases across the country, among them reservists and soldiers of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith: 39 people in hospital, at least 19 in critical condition. They were taken to Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer. Some have severe burns, weeks or months of intensive care. STARS flew from Edmonton and Saskatoon. Thirty crews, 22 ground ambulances, eight aircraft. The fire was fought through the night, by military and civilians, “in some of the worst conditions imaginable”, Carney’s words.

What they were training. 3rd Battalion PPCLI, a live-fire exercise: hand grenades, a section attack. Preparation for rapid deployment and, in April–May, Latvia. The range caught fire in the middle of that. Explosions were heard. Rutland: we do not believe this is oil and gas infrastructure, nor “outside interference”. That is an initial impression. It is not a verdict. The investigation stays open.

Defence Minister David McGuinty spoke on Sunday from the ground: “They are sons and daughters and parents and partners and friends.” The National Defence statement, on Saturday evening, still did not give the toll. The priority then: notifying families. Carney asked for a formal briefing from Wainwright. That is the order. The dead first, then the file.

Wainwright sits about 190 kilometres from Edmonton, 290 from Calgary. The base is for training, not for war. Anyone writing “an attack on Canada” jumps from wind to intent. Anyone writing “a closed accident” jumps from grass to a file. Until the inquiry, it is a range, a wind, four dead.

Image: Georgia National Guard, Maple Resolve exercise at Wainwright, 22 May 2013, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The photograph shows an old training event, not Saturday’s fire.

Sources consulted: Canadian military base fire: Death toll confirmed and cause under investigation — BBC; Alberta premier says 39 people hospitalized, at least 19 critical after fire at Canada military base — AP.