Deadly fire at Canada military base moved a kilometer ‘in 30 to 60 seconds’

The fire that killed four members of the Canadian military and injured dozens of others on Saturday spread with alarming speed, accounts suggest.

It broke out in a grassy training area at a base in the province of Alberta and spread rapidly due to strong winds.

“The fire was 1km (0.6 miles) away when the wind shifted,” said Maj-Gen Wade Rutland, commander of the 1st Canadian Division of the Canadian Armed Forces. “It is not normal for a fire to move a kilometre in 30 to 60 seconds.”

Warren Thirsk, an emergency department doctor at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, told Canadian broadcaster CBC that the number of patients involved in the incident had “completely overwhelmed” healthcare facilities in Wainwright.

Read more: BBC