OTTAWA — Chief of the defence staff Gen. Jennie Carignan says it is her “intention” to publicly release the findings of a board of inquiry into the deadly fire at the Canadian Forces Base in Wainwright, Alta.
Four Canadian Armed Forces members were killed and dozens more injured in the fire. The RCMP is on the ground along with 50 investigators to determine the source of the fire, Prime Minister Mark Carney told the House of Commons Monday morning.
“This is a tough time for all folks in in military uniform, and for the families as well,” Carignan said in an interview on CTV Power Play with Vassy Kapelos airing Monday. “We all know that losing members and having members injured following an incident like this is a tough time for everybody.”
Asked specifically about what she believes happened at CFB Wainwright on Saturday, Carignan said there are still many details that will take time to come out.
“There is a lot of information that we need to confirm,” she said. “We want to make sure that we have the facts as we are going forward.”
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“We understand there was a fire that was far removed from the training area, and the fire basically behaved in an unexpected fashion and basically engulfed the area where our personnel was located,” Canada’s top soldier also said. “I have to say though, I’m extremely proud of the response to the incident at every level in the Canadian Armed Forces.”
Carignan called the response to the fire “very prompt and efficient,” before she acknowledged the work of the surrounding community.
There are currently three different “vehicles of investigation” that are underway, according to the chief of the defence staff. One is being done jointly by the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service — including the military police, Alberta’s chief medical examiner, and and the RCMP — and another by the Canadian Forces Fire Marshal.
The third is a board of inquiry, which Carignan called ”the mechanism that we have to have a broader range of visibility on what happened.
“And the findings will be released publicly,” she added.
She also said she’ll be travelling to CFB Wainwright before the end of the week.
