‘Things will never be the same’: Wainwright prepares for Remembrance Day after fire

The Alberta town of Wainwright is gearing up for what could be the most solemn Remembrance Day in its recent history, says Mayor Bruce Pugh.

A fire on Oct. 17 at the nearby Canadian Forces Base Wainwright killed four soldiers and injured 39. Officials said last week that 25 were still in various hospitals.

“It will be different this year just with the weight of what happened,” said Pugh.

“Wainwright is a military community and it’s a big family.

“I get a sense that things will never be the same.”

Hundreds of military personnel, residents and dignitaries are set to fill the local ice rink on Wednesday for the town’s annual Remembrance Day ceremony.

Flowers and wreaths are also to be placed at the town’s clock tower, said Pugh. The fieldstone tower, which commemorates Canadians who died in the First and Second World Wars, has been standing in the middle of a downtown roundabout for about a century.

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Remembrance Day has been significant in Wainwright for many years.

The town of about 7,000 people, located 210 kilometres southeast of Edmonton, is home to one of the busiest Canadian Forces bases in the country, and its members are deeply intertwined in local life.

The children of Armed Forces members go to school and play hockey in town. And residents are accustomed to hearing artillery blasts and feeling their windows shake during training exercises.

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“We’re worried about our CAF friends,” Pugh said.

“I know they have tremendous support and strength, but how can you go through an event like that and not have a scar?”

Roughly 84 soldiers with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry were taking part in a field exercise at the base, when strong and sudden winds whipped a grass fire into their path.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has called it one of the worst tragedies for the Armed Forces on Canadian soil during peacetime. Three investigations are looking into what happened.

The four killed were: Sgt. Morgan Wong, 26, of Edmonton; Pte. Shaun Farrell, 23, of Prince Albert, Sask.; Pte. Aidan Goulding, 23, of North Vancouver, B.C.; and Pte. Hayden Lykkemark, 19, of Langley, B.C.

Among the injured is Sean Hiatt, a 24-year-old corporal with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, who also worked as a railway track maintenance supervisor with CN Rail.

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The railway said it plans to station locomotives outside the Wainwright arena on Wednesday.

“We recognize that this year’s Remembrance Day comes at a particularly difficult time following the recent tragedy at CFB Wainwright,” the railway said in a statement.

Jennifer Ford, an archivist with the Wainwright and District Museum and Visitor Information Center, said the mood in Wainwright has been serious since the fire.

“I went to school with people whose families served in the military and they were just involved in community,” she said.

“It’s a very close-knit community.”

Before CFB Wainwright was a military base, she said, it was Buffalo National Park. The Department of National Defence took over the area around 1939.

Near the end of the Second World War, the base temporarily transformed into a camp for prisoners of war. Britain asked Canada to host roughly 1,100 German officers at the site.

Ford said a guard recalled a very Canadian moment while describing life at the camp.

“On his first day (on the job), he noticed there was a hockey game taking place and it was between the guards and the prisoners,” Ford said. “He was kind of in shock.”

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Some of the prisoners loved Canadians so much, they later decided to stay in the country, she said.

The site eventually grew into the base it is today.

Last week, the federal budget promised $25 million over two years to support those affected by the fire. Ottawa said it has a responsibility to support members of the military and the families who stand with them.

Pugh said he anticipates there will be a lot of attention on the town and the military this Remembrance Day.

“I recognize that this idea of freedom is not free,” the mayor said.

“There’s a cost that is paid, sadly, and those people are willing to do it. So they deserve our utmost respect.”

© 2026 The Canadian Press