A fifth Canadian soldier has died from injuries sustained when a wind-driven grass fire swept through troops during a military training exercise last month, the Canadian Armed Forces announced Saturday.
Pvt. William Douglas Dal Bianco died Friday in an Ontario hospital, where he had been receiving treatment since the Oct. 17 fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, Alberta, the military said.
About 84 soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, were conducting attack training when winds blew flames from a grass fire towards the troops at the base southeast of Edmonton. It happened at a grenade launcher range, officials said last month.
The army said Saturday that 24 soldiers remained hospitalized.
“Private Dal Bianco and his comrades were training to defend Canada,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a message posted on social media. “With their bright future ahead of them, they chose to safeguard ours. That is service.”
The other soldiers killed were Pvt. Shaun Farrell, 23, of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan; Pvt. Aidan Goulding, 23, from North Vancouver, British Columbia; Pvt. Hayden Lykkemark, 19, of Langley, British Columbia; and Sgt. Morgan Wong, 26, of Edmonton.
Military police are investigating the fire, while a separate military commission of inquiry will examine the circumstances of the tragedy and recommend measures to prevent similar incidents.
Maj. Gen. Wade Rutland said military officials had known about the fire for hours but believed it was under control and allowed training to continue before the winds suddenly shifted.
Carney called the fire one of the worst peacetime tragedies for the Canadian military on Canadian soil.
“We will get answers about the causes of this terrible tragedy, as quickly and transparently as necessary,” Carney told reporters last month.
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