It’s so close, sometimes people can feel the walls of their house rattle after an explosion.
asserted
walls → ’ → explosion
“You hear explosions but you get used to it,” said long-time Wainwright resident Bob Porter, who described being inured to the sounds of the base as similar to being “nose blind.”
asserted
who → hear → base
“Like, if you hear the train all day long, by the afternoon or next day, you don’t hear it,” he said.
asserted
he → hear → it
His wife, Tanya Porter, said she saw a wall of smoke south of town in the direction of the base at roughly 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, right as gusts of wind exceeding 100 kilometres an hour blew into town.
asserted
gusts → say → town
But I didn’t hear any explosion.
asserted
I → hear → explosion
They were bombing all day,” she said while she and her husband, Bob, ate brunch at the Wainwright Legion on Sunday morning.
asserted
she → bomb → morning
The town and base have lived side-by-side for more than 85 years, when the Department of National Defence took over what was Buffalo National Park to create a military training and ammunition storage facility.
asserted
what → live → facility
The base, which spans more than 1,500 square kilometres and is properly known as the 3rd Canadian Division Support Base Detachment Wainwright, is one of the country’s biggest and most highly-used military training facilities.
asserted
which → span → facilities
The town of Wainwright is located just over two hours southeast of Edmonton.
asserted
town → locate → Edmonton
While the town of about 7,000 has other industries – including petroleum and agriculture – and military people travelling to Wainwright tend to stay mostly on the base, the two communities are inextricably linked.
asserted
communities → have → base
Walking his dogs beside a retired Canadian Sherman military tank set in Wallace Park on Sunday morning, Greg Desrosenroll said he didn’t know any details about what happened on the base, but was very concerned about everyone involved.
asserted
what → walk → everyone
It’s not the first accident,” said Mr. Desrosenroll, an army veteran who has worked on the base for more than 20 years as a civilian.
asserted
who → ’ → civilian
“I don’t know.
asserted
I → know → ?
Was it the wind that caused it?”
asserted
that → cause → it
Across the street, a man lowered the flags of a provincial building to half-mast.
asserted
man → lower → mast
A vast area of rolling grasslands on and around the military base was charred black from fire, with white-grey smoke still drifting out of stands of trees in the gusting wind on Sunday afternoon.
asserted
smoke → char → afternoon
Wainwright Fire Chief Aime Smyl said there were about 30 firefighters still working to put out hotspots in the area.
asserted
Smyl → say → area
He noted that Wainwright fire crews were only responding to fire that had moved outside the base, where the blaze had started.
asserted
blaze → note → base
Pre-existing signs posted on the base’s fenceline warn locals away from the property, with messages like: “THERE ARE BOMBS INSIDE.
asserted
THERE → post → messages
THEY CAN KILL YOU.”
asserted
THEY → kill → YOU
On Sunday morning, about two dozen people gathered at Wainwright’s Church of the Nazarene, where some military families occasionally worship, to pray for those killed, injured, or otherwise affected by the events on the base.
asserted
families → gather → base
“It is with heavy hearts and concerned minds, as we think about the tragedy unfolding in our community,” Rev. Ryan Wood told the congregation.
asserted
Wood → think → congregation
“We think of the families of those who have lost their lives, we want to pray for them today in midst of this terrible loss and grief.”
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we → think → loss
He also thanked first responders and people from the community and surrounding area “who have been on a horrific scene, who are impacted by the tragedy and the loss that they’ve witnessed.”
asserted
they → thank → that
Standing at the back of the church, Devon Theissen was overcome by emotion.
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Theissen → stand → emotion
“The impact of yesterday, and hearing about the tragedy and the traumas other people are experiencing, it really made me grateful for what I have,” he said, as tears welled in his eyes
asserted
tears → hear → eyes
Around Wainwright, word about what happened on the base was still beginning to circulate.
asserted
what → happen → base
Working her shift at the Petro-Canada gas station, 17-year-old Talyn Rinas said she was playing in a volleyball tournament at Wainwright High School when her friend’s boyfriend, a volunteer firefighter, got a call-out.
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boyfriend → work → out
“We heard his phone go off, and normally when it goes off they all leave, but it’s never anything serious.
asserted
it → hear → ?
It’s just something small,” she said.
asserted
she → ’ → ?
She said they didn’t think anything of it until they left the school, and saw ambulances flooding in.
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ambulances → say → school
“The whole parking lot was ambulances, just scattered,” she said.
asserted
she → scatter → ?
She said people are shaken up, and waiting to hear more details about what happened, as speculation and rumours travel on social media and in group chats.
asserted
speculation → say → chats
“Everyone I’ve talked to is just sad that it happened, and it’s terrible,” she said.
asserted
she → talk → ?
The Aporia
