Cause of deadly Canadian fire that killed 4 service members remains under investigation as PM Mark Carney dismisses possibility of terrorism

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said four service members were killed and dozens wounded after a fire broke out Saturday at Alberta’s Canadian Forces Base Wainwright.

“CFB Wainwright is where the women and men of our armed forces learn to do the hardest things this country can ask of anyone,” Carney said in an address to the nation Sunday. “Those we lost, those who were injured, were training to defend Canada, to serve Canada, and now Canada serves them.”

Carney qualified the deadly incident as one of the worst tragedies to befall the country’s military while on domestic soil during peacetime. However, he sought to reassure worried civilians that the incident, which remains under investigation, did not appear to be a foreign attack.

“There are no indications that it was the result of any terrorist activity,” Carney said, according to The Washington Post.

The cause of the “violent, fast-moving” fire was not immediately clear. But Wainwright Mayor Bruce Pugh called it “the largest mass-casualty event that we’ve seen,” according to the CBC.

Carney ordered flags at all federal buildings to be flown at half-staff in honor of those who gave their lives.

Carney has urged Canada to take in more immigrants, even as its southern neighbor, the United States, seeks to seal off its borders under President Donald Trump.

Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Patnaik caused an uproar recently by hinting that Canada may require about 15 million additional workers to be imported over the next decade as part of a planned $1 trillion investment push by Carney.

However, the leftist Canadian leader has been less concerned by the prospect of terrorist activities within his borders than by the prospect of a US attack.

In September, he sounded the alarm over a possible Trump-led invasion.

“I think you have a responsibility in these roles to look at extreme tail risk,” he told The New York Times. “That's just risk management. That's not a base case, but it would be irresponsible not to prepare.”