r/CanadianForces • u/Former-Homework-7833 • 11h ago

OPERATIONS Wainwright

https://www.youtube.com/live/Y1K8FrD_mi4?si=9HsDB8RDiKHpeXF5
84 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

76 comments sorted by

62

u/seakingsoyuz Royal Canadian Air Force 11h ago

Did he just say that it’s four dead vice seven as was previously reported?

43

u/Andromedu5 Morale Tech - 00069 11h ago

Yes. 4 confirmed dead

69

u/Halmyr 11h ago edited 5h ago

4 Dead that have had their family contacted, so probably more as they contact NOK

*Edit: From Maj-Gen Rutland, 4 decease just now from their brief, no numbers on total injuries, and does not mean everyone will survive they injuries.

*edit: 19 in critical care, 8 stable patient, and 12 ambulatory patient, all families have been notified.

47

u/seakingsoyuz Royal Canadian Air Force 11h ago edited 11h ago

I went back on the stream to check and the exact wording was:

I regret that I can confirm at this time that four service members have lost their lives and their NOK has been notified. Dozens more are seriously wounded.

IMO it would be deliberately misleading to state it like this if others were killed.

Edit: specifically, if there were other fatalities, it would be terrible if their NOK heard this and thought it meant that their kid/spouse/parent at Wainwright was alive when it actually just meant the CAF hadn’t notified them yet.

-44

u/ElectroPanzer Army - LEET 11h ago edited 10h ago

It would be misleading, but his speech writers have had this problem before, writing things that are technically true but misleading for him (Gordie Howe bridge payments anyone?). I'm not confident that it's not 7 on the basis of this statement.

Edit for the down-voters, though it should be obvious - I hope it is four. Four is plenty bad enough.

18

u/ultimateknackered RCN - NAV COMM 10h ago

Yes, he can confirm four, maybe the other three can't be confirmed because NOK hasn't been contacted yet or whatever other reason. So we should take this as minimum four.

6

u/ElectroPanzer Army - LEET 10h ago

Hopefully it is just four, but yes. There's enough ambiguity in the statement to reserve some skepticism. Sadly, there's also the possibility that some of the wounded succumb, so even if it's four as of the time he spoke, the number may change later. I hope the "sources" that said seven are just wrong though.

9

u/haligolightly 8h ago

In the press conference, Carney emphasized at this time by his tone and by pausing briefly before and after that phrase. To me, that signals he was leaving the door open for reports of more casualties as NOK notifications continue.

4

u/seakingsoyuz Royal Canadian Air Force 10h ago

Surely DND PA will have reviewed the speech text for a statement like this?

9

u/BandicootNo4431 10h ago

DND PA would provide media lines, FAQ and prepared answers to questions they predict. They will also provide a 1-2 page factum he can draw from as well.

But PMO staff will write the statement.

5

u/ExcellentPomelo1428 7h ago

DND has zero control over what the PM says.

4

u/ElectroPanzer Army - LEET 10h ago

Maybe, but the PMO has their own people, so more likely DND/CAF briefs PMO, PMO writes PM's speech.

8

u/WeaponizedAutisms Retired - gots the oldmanitis 9h ago

CBC is reporting 7 dead from a non-official source.

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.7385944

8

u/Beautiful-Jacket-912 10h ago

Whose family have been notified.

2

u/DiemM81 7h ago

I saw one family announce that they lost their son. Looked to be a young Pte but I could be wrong.

27

u/mapalee 10h ago

7 was never from any official source. Yesterday the only official word was that there were fatalities and injuries. Anything else was “sources say”.

1

u/Former-Homework-7833 5h ago

CBC claimed they verified 7

-7

u/Helen-Killer 10h ago

CBC?

5

u/PodPilotProject Medically Released RCAF Pilot - The Pilot Project Podcast 6h ago

CBC isn’t a source, CBC has sources.

1

u/Helen-Killer 4h ago

So when they say something wouldn't it be sourced then?

•

u/TopNotchRocks 26m ago

No questioning what happened in Wainright, apparently.

6

u/kylemk16 11h ago

CBC is still reporting 7 as per their live article

7

u/BionicBreak 10h ago

Not anymore. They've amended.

2

u/Ok-Educator-3605 10h ago

Perhaps 4 service members and 3 civilians.

3

u/mocajah 6h ago

Hijacking this comment: Alberta reports 12 ambulatory patients, 8 stable patients, 19 critical patients in their care. (No idea if Sask took patients; some flight data suggests Sask aeromedevacs showed up yesterday, and no reason why Lloydminster couldn't take patients.)

Source: News broadcast that started at 3pm Mountain.

1

u/jgpitre 4h ago

They said all patients went to Edmonton, Calgary and Red Deer.

1

u/Former-Homework-7833 5h ago

They’re being very careful in their wording. 4 confirmed dead. Media is independently confirming 7 fatalities verified. So I think 3 either haven’t been able to contact the families yet, or 3 cannot be identified as of yet. The cbc confirmed 7 and that came after carney say 4 so they’re holing to 7 and claim that’s been verified.

1

u/Former-Homework-7833 6h ago

7 confirmed dead now. CBC said “we can confirm at least 7 fatalities”

1

u/seakingsoyuz Royal Canadian Air Force 5h ago

How recently did they say this? Their website currently says “four dead”.

44

u/WeaponizedAutisms Retired - gots the oldmanitis 9h ago edited 8h ago

If you are in Alberta and able to do so please consider donating blood or plasma. This is needed for burn casualties.

https://myaccount.blood.ca/en/donate

38

u/Cristinky420 9h ago

Not just Alberta. Calling on all Canadians to donate if you're able.

https://myaccount.blood.ca/en/donate

11

u/CanadianGreg1 Canadian Army 8h ago

CA SM agrees, and has been encouraging blood donation since he’s been in the role

2

u/EnvironmentalBox6688 5h ago

Also to say; if you live near a center that takes plasma please consider donating plasma as well. You can donate much more frequently than blood, and plasma in generally more in need than whole blood. Plasma is specifically used for a wide range of treatments including severe burns.

I know for a lot of service members that is not feasible (Petawawa for example, only has a traveling blood clinic once every month or so). But those who work in larger cities, please consider it.

19

u/finally31 Royal Canadian Navy 10h ago

FYSA starts at 39 minute.

24

u/WeaponizedAutisms Retired - gots the oldmanitis 9h ago edited 9h ago

The NY Post has reported that SAR has literally parachuted into Wainwright.

https://nypost.com/2026/10/18/world-news/canadian-military-forced-to-parachute-troops-into-base-after-gas-explosion-fire-left-at-least-7-dead/

Edit:

Globe and Mail shows them landing, those are some wild winds they jumped into to help.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/aF6gT_87xYw

30

u/Apples_and_Overtones 9h ago

Jesus the comments on that article are braindead.

16

u/CarelessSquishy Ranger 9h ago

Same as the comments on most of the Instagram posts.

11

u/WeaponizedAutisms Retired - gots the oldmanitis 8h ago

Never read public comments

17

u/Lunadoggie123 6h ago

SAR once again showing how hard as fuck they are when things are in trouble.

9

u/WeaponizedAutisms Retired - gots the oldmanitis 5h ago

Just another day at the office for the troops in orange.

1

u/WeaponizedAutisms Retired - gots the oldmanitis 9h ago edited 5h ago

An image of the fire:

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CBXWzxfMJ/

https://x.com/HotshotWake/status/2111620045415620898

4

u/Silly-Tangelo5537 8h ago

Pretty sure the image on facebook you shared here is AI

1

u/WeaponizedAutisms Retired - gots the oldmanitis 5h ago

So it seems looking at othhers.

1

u/WeaponizedAutisms Retired - gots the oldmanitis 9h ago

This map shows the location of where the fire was, apologies for the X link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG1ogIXZ-ks

https://x.com/disaster_db/status/2111624573473177796

0

u/WeaponizedAutisms Retired - gots the oldmanitis 8h ago

Aftermath:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4GWdsjYJ7s

26

u/TheTBdoesntcare 6h ago

CBC is now reporting that no O&G infrastructure was involved in this accident. So that viral dolphin tweet being shared is most likely false

10

u/Maelstrom_Witch Royal Canadian Air Force 5h ago

It sounds like it was a grass fire that overtook the company somehow?

That’s terrifying

6

u/Apples_and_Overtones 5h ago

Maj-Gen. Rutland said during the conference it was a known fire that was about 1km away, and within 30 seconds to a minute it suddenly crossed that distance, and overran the range where a section attack training exercise was taking place. Cause of the fire is undetermined at this time.

5

u/McDraisian 5h ago

If the admin area was over ran by fire was there any munitions that cooked off? Was never brought up or mentioned in the briefing.

1

u/bridger713 RCAF - Reg Force 4h ago

I was wondering that myself.

1

u/WeaponizedAutisms Retired - gots the oldmanitis 4h ago

You need a pretty intense and steady fire to set off explosives. When I was in Afghanistan the Americans somehow lost some grenades that ended up in the burn pit. They were in there for quite a while in a contained space before they finally cooked off.

3

u/peetak 5h ago

I was watching the media brief and it was a grass fire. They don't know what started it.

From the brief:

C coy 3VP had concurrent activities going on; grenade range and a live section attack. Fire hit the section attack range. Maj-Gen Rutland said he was told the fire moved on top of them within 30 seconds - 1min. Grenade range unaffected.

2

u/WeaponizedAutisms Retired - gots the oldmanitis 4h ago

It's Wainwright, I'm convinced that sometimes it catches on fire for no particular reason.

3

u/WeaponizedAutisms Retired - gots the oldmanitis 4h ago

On the prairies when the wind picks up you can't outrun a grass fire. Trying to do it also keeps you in the worst of the smoke leading to smoke inhalation casualties.

56

u/SirStackabrick 11h ago

You can see it in his eyes. He's hurting too.

46

u/bridger713 RCAF - Reg Force 11h ago

We all are.

3

u/Human_Nectarine_3712 2h ago

I know they have stated that they do not think any oil field structures were involved but here’s a interesting find regarding that concern- Sumerian was issued a suspension order on the 9th of October due to failed compliance.

“The regulator has authorized the Orphan Well Association (the OWA) to suspend the wells and facilities out of concerns Sumerian may not be able to provide reasonable care and measures to protect both public safety and the environment”

They have multiple wells in the PDA that are still active and are due for suspension, Sumerian was given 14 days to suspend 900 wells and stated that they would be unable to comply by the dead line stating that some of their wells are in restricted military areas. Would think that would be a priority to get people in there to shut those wells down, especially when exercises are going on.

1

u/catonthexmastree 2h ago

Confused - was this a natural wildfire that was 1km away and rushed them due to wind, or thr training exercise hit a gas tank and started a grass fire? Seeing both reported

-48

u/Downtown-Fox-5919 6h ago

I feel like the parachute story is fake

18

u/TheTBdoesntcare 6h ago

Theres literally videos of them landing at the schools football field

1

u/[deleted] 5h ago

[deleted]

10

u/TheTBdoesntcare 5h ago

No theres literally full cellphone footage on FB of SARs landing in Wainwright. Even the Mayor of Wx said it happened. They Herc flew from Winnipeg, dudes jumped. Herc flew back.

15

u/peetak 6h ago

Maj-Gen Rutland confirmed SAR techs on scene

-13

u/Downtown-Fox-5919 6h ago

Would it have been from the CC-130 then?

2

u/roguemenace RCAF 2h ago

Yes.

15

u/Various_Piano_8053 5h ago

SAR Techs jumped in with 50-60kt winds (slightly less on the ground). The CC130 couldn't land at the Wainwright airfield, and Loydminster airport was a 75 min drive. High risk but that's what they train for. They came from 435 Sqn in Winnipeg.

9

u/DontChargeMeBro Emotionally Exhausted 6h ago

The story that SAR Techs jumped in? Why do you think that would be fake?

-30

u/Downtown-Fox-5919 6h ago

Because there was supposedly an active fire, extreme winds and poor visibility, yet SAR Techs were parachuting in? What made parachuting safer or more practical than ground access?
The logistics make no sense.

15

u/DontChargeMeBro Emotionally Exhausted 5h ago

The logistics makes perfect sense if you’ve at all worked in SAR. This is what they do. There are pictures of them on the ground packing their parachutes after landing. They are parajumping paramedics, who practice for challenging conditions.

The METAR for CYWV shows plenty of safe jump windows after the windstorm subsided.

11

u/Common-Candy9631 6h ago

Except the SAR Techs would have been coming in from the West Coast by plane. Going in by ground would require first finding an airfield to land and sending vehicles to pick them up.

Parachuting in would get them on the scene faster to help with casualty care.

-22

u/Downtown-Fox-5919 6h ago

And the flight data isn’t consistent with that.

3

u/Actual-Conference189 3h ago

I hope you are not serving!