Canadian military probes origin of fatal fire in grenade range

Questions remain nearly a week after a fire on a Canadian military base killed four and injured dozens of others. The Oct. 17 fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright spread after burning on an automatic grenade launcher range, officials said at a Thursday news conference. Because the range was listed as a permanent danger area, firefighters couldn’t directly suppress all of the fire, the military said. They monitored the fire throughout the day, but a change in the wind suddenly fanned and spread the flames.

As of Thursday, investigators still weren’t sure what originally caused the fire. However, the Canadian military ruled out the possibility that infrastructure for natural gas was involved. The investigation would continue, the military said.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney previously said that the fire jumped about half a mile in under a minute, overtaking a unit of soldiers. In addition to those killed, 39 were injured.

Dig deeper: Read my previous report on the incident for more details.