Wainwright packs arena to remember soldiers lost in fire

Hundreds of soldiers, residents and politicians filled the Peace Memorial Multiplex in Wainwright, Alta., on Wednesday for a Remembrance Day service that was dominated by the loss of four soldiers in a training-area fire at the nearby base less than four weeks ago.

Lt.-Col. Dustin MacLeod, the commander of Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, thanked residents of the town and surrounding communities, as well as the first responders and health-care workers who helped after the fire, CBC News reported. “You have reminded us that service and care are not exclusive to any particular uniform,” MacLeod said.

Sgt. Morgan Wong, 26, of Edmonton, Pte. Shaun Farrell, 23, of Prince Albert, Sask., Pte. Aidan Goulding, 23, of North Vancouver and Pte. Hayden Lykkemark, 19, of Langley, B.C., died on Oct. 17 when strong winds drove a grass fire across a training area where about 84 soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, were doing attack training. Thirty-nine others were hurt. National Defence said 25 were still in hospital as of Nov. 4.

“We come to Wainwright, as we remember the tragedy that befell this small town,” Rev. Mokwadi Basele of Grace United Church said in his prayer at the service, The Canadian Press reported. Names of fallen veterans were read from the town’s honour roll and official wreaths were laid.

A few blocks away, people left flowers and wreaths at the century-old fieldstone memorial tower on Main Street, where an informal memorial grew in the days after the fire. Wainwright resident Reimer Nielsen told The Canadian Press his family comes every year, but this year was “a little more sombre and more important to be here for the four.”

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, whose Battle River-Crowfoot riding includes the base, laid a wreath and said many of the injured soldiers “literally ran into balls of fire to save their brothers and sisters in arms.”

Northwest of Edmonton, at least 2,000 people lined the road to the St. Albert cenotaph, where about 300 members of the same regiment marched and Farrell’s family laid a wreath in his honour. Four wreaths there were placed for the soldiers who died, CBC reported.

Three investigations into the fire are underway. Our earlier reporting found that 15 of the injured soldiers were on ventilators at one point, and that satellite data raised questions about the military’s account of how the fire spread. Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew also honoured the four soldiers on Wednesday.

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