Fifth Canadian soldier dies from injuries in Alberta military training grass fire

A fifth Canadian soldier has died of injuries from a wind-driven grass fire that swept through troops during a training exercise, the Canadian Armed Forces said Saturday. Pvt. William Douglas Dal Bianco died Friday at a hospital in Ontario, where he had been treated since the Oct. 17 fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in Alberta.

About 84 soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, were conducting attack training on a grenade launcher range when winds pushed flames toward them, officials said. The military said 24 soldiers remain hospitalized. Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a social media post that Dal Bianco and his fellow soldiers “were training to defend Canada.” The other dead are Pvt. Shaun Farrell, 23; Pvt. Aidan Goulding, 23; Pvt. Hayden Lykkemark, 19; and Sgt. Morgan Wong, 26. Military police are investigating, and a separate board of inquiry will examine the circumstances and recommend preventive measures. Maj. Gen. Wade Rutland said officials knew of the fire for hours.

The left-leaning CBS News gives the fullest account. It opens with the death, then adds the number of soldiers involved, the 24 still hospitalized, Carney's tribute, the names, ages and hometowns of the four others killed, and the two inquiries, ending on Rutland's remarks about the hours-long awareness of the fire. The right-leaning Newsmax, in the text provided, carries only the opening sentence, with a headline matching the wire report, so its coverage of victims, investigations or official statements cannot be compared. The two sides do not contradict each other on any fact; the difference is the depth available. The alternative outlet, AP, uses the same lede and a Wainwright-area dateline, and does not diverge in framing.