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Retired major-general weighs in on what may come next after deadly fire on military base · THE DAILY BRIEF

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  Speaker 1: So now, for a better understanding on the investigation, we've
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  Speaker 1: reached retired Major General with the Canadian Forces, Scott Clancy,
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  Speaker 1: in Cornwall, the United Kingdom. He's also a special advisor
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  Speaker 1: with public affairs firm Henley Strategies. Thanks so much for
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  Speaker 1: making time for us today.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you very much for having me.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so we know that dozens of troops were conducting
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  Speaker 1: these training exercises using live ammunition, as we've discussed, and
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  Speaker 1: that was at the same time that a grass fire
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  Speaker 1: was burning about a kilometer away. So is that a
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  Speaker 1: decision that falls within protocol in terms of the assessment
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  Speaker 1: of what is happening with a fire and carrying out
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  Speaker 1: these live ammunition exercises?
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  Speaker 2: So short answer is yes.
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  Speaker 3: The Range training area in Wainwright is very large, as
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  Speaker 3: are many of the land training ranges from Petawawa, Gagetown,
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  Speaker 3: New Brunswick, Valcarche, very large.
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  Speaker 2: And you can have fires.
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  Speaker 3: As a matter of fact, as a helicopter pilot, I
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  Speaker 3: used to fight fires in the Petawawa ranges while these
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  Speaker 3: things were going on, while operations or training would be conducted.
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  Speaker 2: So it's not uncommon for that to be happening.
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  Speaker 3: So this decision to carry on while that fire was
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  Speaker 3: in place there is a decision that range control and
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  Speaker 3: the officers conducting the exercise would have looked at in advance,
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  Speaker 3: as well as taking into account the fire warning, which
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  Speaker 3: my understanding was throughout the day was low, even though
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  Speaker 3: there was a fire already burning.
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  Speaker 1: So then, as you mentioned there, that you've been in
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  Speaker 1: a situation where you have been training, where there has
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  Speaker 1: been a fire. I'm wondering, we heard from the prime minister,
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  Speaker 1: he said the fire jumped one kilometre in less than
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  Speaker 1: a minute. Have you ever experienced something like that? And
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  Speaker 1: can you detail for us what, you know, how fast
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  Speaker 1: you would have to respond to that?
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  Speaker 2: So, yes, I can. I've got extensive experience around forest firefighting.
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  Speaker 3: As a helicopter pilot, one of my first things that
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  Speaker 3: I ever did in 1990 was– lie in concert with
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  Speaker 3: the Minister of Natural Resources on the forest fire in
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  Speaker 3: Bay Como, which saw a significant portion of Quebec burning.
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  Speaker 2: And at that point in time, I can remember that.
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  Speaker 3: The fire was coming out of the Laurentian Hills and
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  Speaker 3: threatening Indigenous communities that were along the coastline. And we're
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  Speaker 3: talking about a fire that was going to move, you know,
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  Speaker 3: four or five kilometers in a matter of minutes or seconds.
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  Speaker 3: And this was the kind of urgency that was taken
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  Speaker 3: to in Colorado Springs. The wildfires there swept down mountain shadows,
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  Speaker 3: traveling at 50 miles an hour through suburban neighborhoods, 50
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  Speaker 3: miles an hour. I try to think of driving away
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  Speaker 3: from a fire like that, which would be nigh impossible.
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  Speaker 3: And I think of the heat that that would create.
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  Speaker 3: And that gives me a sense of exactly what these
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  Speaker 3: soldiers were up against.
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  Speaker 1: So given all of that and your extensive experience, I mean,
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  Speaker 1: what was the first thing that went through your mind
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  Speaker 1: when you heard the details of what happened here?
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  Speaker 3: Well, for all of us who serve in and around
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  Speaker 3: the military, when you hear next of kin notifications are
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  Speaker 3: ongoing for the Canadian Armed Forces, you get hit in
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  Speaker 3: the chest with this sense of shock and sadness. As
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  Speaker 3: these all too familiar, but very precise military processes to
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  Speaker 3: identify to the family members something that has happened, which
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  Speaker 3: is going to make this day the worst day in
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  Speaker 3: their lives.
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  Speaker 2: It hits you.
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  Speaker 3: That's the first thing that goes through my mind. But
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  Speaker 3: the second thing that went through my mind, listening to
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  Speaker 3: the words of our prime minister, the minister of national defense,
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  Speaker 3: the premier of Alberta, premiers across the nation, political, normal
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  Speaker 3: citizens who've reached out to us military and ex-military members
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  Speaker 3: with this sense of support for the military gives me
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  Speaker 3: a sense of pride in how our nation.
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  Speaker 2: Is rising to this occasion.
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  Speaker 1: As we talk about the fact that the protocols suggest
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  Speaker 1: that you would have gone ahead with this, there wasn't
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  Speaker 1: an active fire threat in the sense that something would
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  Speaker 1: deter you from carrying on with these exercises. What are
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  Speaker 1: the safety guardrails around that training? And in terms of
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  Speaker 1: what might have gone wrong, we know that there's an
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  Speaker 1: investigation underway. What are some of the factors that you
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  Speaker 1: would be looking at or looking for?
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  Speaker 3: So the board of inquiry should be convened or has
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  Speaker 3: probably already been convened by the chief of defense staff
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  Speaker 3: will name a senior military official outside of the chain
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  Speaker 3: of command from a transparency and independence point of view,
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  Speaker 3: as well as provide them the administrative and personnel expertise
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  Speaker 3: to get after every single thing around this.
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  Speaker 2: And they'll look at The leadership, the culture that was created.
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  Speaker 3: Around that leadership, the orders, the regulations, the safety regulations,
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  Speaker 3: the specific decisions to carry on training. They'll look at
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  Speaker 3: the range control organization, this extent at the base in Wainwright,
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  Speaker 3: and try to figure out whether or not they had
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  Speaker 3: good eyes on that fire, had an idea of whether
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  Speaker 3: it was contained, where it was, and how big. So wildfires,
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  Speaker 3: you know, my experience in this, they can be smoldering
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  Speaker 3: low and then a few minutes later be wild blazing fires.
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  Speaker 2: It really depends on.
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  Speaker 3: The fuel, the winds, and the investigation is going to
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  Speaker 3: get after all of those things. It will also look
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  Speaker 3: into the response and the responses that happen from both
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  Speaker 3: a very positive and negative point of view. There might
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  Speaker 3: be some very positive things that were learned through this
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  Speaker 3: response that can be applied across the Canadian Armed Forces
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  Speaker 3: to prevent anything like this from ever happening again.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I very much appreciated your insights today. Thank you
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  Speaker 1: so much for joining us.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you very much for having me.
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  Speaker 1: That is Retired Major General with the Canadian Forces, Scott Clancy.
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  Speaker 1: He joined us today from Cornwall, United Kingdom.
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  Speaker 3: Thanks again.