Video taking off 38x its usual first day

Wainwright burn patients face a long road, Danielle Smith says

Alberta's premier tells reporters the hospital surge protocols have been lifted, as CP24's briefing clip draws far more comments than the channel's Shorts usually do.

Channel:

CP24 Story of October 19, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 270,605 views a day, 38 times a normal first day on this channel (7,189).

39 hospitalized, 19 in critical condition in fast-moving fire

Every patient is accounted for. That is the point Alberta Premier Danielle Smith reaches about a minute into this short briefing clip, after the hospitals receiving the injured from the fire at CFB Wainwright stood down their emergency footing.

She begins with the loss already announced by Prime Minister Mark Carney: "we are aware of four members of the Canadian Armed Forces who are deceased." Then come the hospital figures. "Currently, 39 patients are being cared for in hospital and at least 19 are in critical condition," Smith says.

Patients were moved from Wainwright Health Centre to other medical centers, and Code Orange protocols were activated to handle the sudden surge. "The Code Orange has now been officially lifted at all facilities," she says. The end of the surge is not the end of care: "the road ahead, especially for those who are suffering from severe burn injuries, will be long." She closes by outlining mental health support for frontline staff and for families. Maj. Gen. L.W. Rutland stands behind her in uniform.

The clip passed 100,000 views within six hours, and its comment section filled far faster than usual for a CP24 Short. The question repeated most often is what caused the fire, which Smith does not address here.

It is one of several CP24 uploads on the fire. An extended version of the same briefing, with Smith, Rutland and Defence Minister David McGuinty describing the events leading up to it, has drawn an even larger audience, and Carney's remarks run separately.

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