U.S. ambassador offers Canada help almost a week after Wainwright tragedy

U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra says the United States has offered to help following the deadly fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in Alberta.

Four soldiers were killed and 39 injured on Oct. 17 when a fire that began during a training exercise on an anti-grenade launching range was picked up by fierce winds.

The military says the fire swept in less than a minute about a kilometre away to where a different training exercise was taking place on the base about 200 kilometres southeast of Edmonton.

Twenty-seven soldiers remain in hospital, including 13 in critical condition, many of them with severe burns.

In a social media post today almost a week after the tragedy, Hoekstra said the U.S. government has made a formal offer of assistance and resources to Canada's federal government to help support the recovery of soldiers affected by traumatic burns "should it be deemed necessary."

The military says there are three different investigations into the tragedy and could not say when more answers will be available about how the tragedy occurred.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2026. 

— With files from Kyle Duggan and Nick Murray in Ottawa

By Catherine Morrison | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.