'Not out of the woods': Family rallies around soldier badly burned in CFB Wainwright fire
Sean Hiatt is in an Edmonton hospital with burns to half of his body
Before he was airlifted to hospital and intubated, Cpl. Sean Hiatt — the second-youngest in a family of 12 — managed to call his mom and tell her he'd been injured in a training accident at CFB Wainwright.
asserted
he → rally → Wainwright
The 24-year-old was coherent at the time, according to his sister, and it gave the family hope.
uncertain
it → accord → hope
Now they're focused on his immediate care, and taking things 12 hours at a time.
asserted
they → take → time
On Saturday afternoon, Hiatt suffered burns to about half of his body when wind gusts of up to 90 km/h pushed a grass fire one kilometre in less than a minute and onto a group of soldiers doing live-fire training.
asserted
gusts → suffer → training
Four soldiers were killed and 39 were injured.
asserted
39 → kill → ?
Hospitals across the province took in the wounded, including University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton where Hiatt’s medevac landed.
asserted
medevac → take → Edmonton
“He was, and still is, sedated and intubated, he was completely wrapped up, they didn’t know the degree at that point because they had to get him stable,” Hiatt’s sister Kelly Patterson said in an interview with CBC News.
asserted
sister → sedate → News
It was a shock to see him like that.”
asserted
It → see → that
Of the injured, 19 are in critical condition, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said at a news conference on Sunday.
asserted
Smith → injure → Sunday
One by one, family members began showing up at Hiatt’s bedside — brothers, a nephew, sisters and parents — to be with the guy they describe as “happy going”and “cheerful.”
asserted
they → begin → guy
Patterson says her brother “perked up” with every visit, breathing a little bit better and “looking a little brighter."
The road ahead is going to be long and Patterson says Hiatt is “not out of the woods.”
Doctors are still concerned about lung damage and have yet to begin skin grafts.
asserted
Doctors → say → grafts
He faces weeks in the ICU and months longer in hospital.
asserted
He → face → hospital
The family is leaning on prayer and the knowledge that Hiatt is "a fighter.”
asserted
Hiatt → lean → prayer
“He got out of there so he’s going to make it,” said Patterson.
asserted
Patterson → get → it
'The whole community is feeling this'
asserted
community → feel → this
Meanwhile, 200 kilometres from Hiatt’s hospital bed, he and the other injured and fallen soldiers are on the minds of folks in Wainwright, a town deeply connected to its base.
asserted
he → injure → base
“Everyone’s really connected, everyone really cares for each other,” said Grade 12 student Rylan Pow.
asserted
Pow → ’ → other
Grade 12 students showed up Monday morning with bouquets of flowers to pay their respects to those who were injured and killed in Saturday's fire at CFB Wainwright.
asserted
who → show → Wainwright
On Monday morning, with their principal’s blessing, Pow and his entire class from Blessed Sacrament School showed up with their teacher to lay flowers at the town’s memorial clock cenotaph.
asserted
Pow → show → cenotaph
Teacher Janae Wildboer said she was in a panic when she learned of the fatal fire and wondered what she could do to help.
uncertain
she → say → what
“Our school just wanted to do something to honour those who have lost their lives,” said Wildboer.
asserted
Wildboer → want → lives
“The whole community is feeling this; it's heavy and we're just now supporting where we can.”
asserted
we → feel → this
Down the street, outside of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 29, which was set up Monday as a referendum polling station, David Campbell finished voting and then turned his mind back to the tragedy.
asserted
Campbell → set → tragedy
"Everyone's still kind of in shock,” said Campbell, who has lived in the area for more than 40 years.
asserted
who → say → years
“The base is very important, a lot of people work here.
asserted
lot → work → people
We’re farmers and we have cattle in the community pasture, we work with the military all the time, they live in town here, a lot of them.
asserted
they → ’re → them
“They’re part of the community, we know so many of them.
asserted
we → ’re → them
Their kids are in hockey, my grandkids are playing hockey with a lot of the kids.
asserted
grandkids → play → kids
As the winds changed direction Sunday night and into Monday, the smell of smoke drifted in and out of the community.
asserted
smell → change → community
Fire Chief Aime Smyl warned that could continue in the days ahead.
uncertain
that → warn → days
The fire is still burning but considered contained, said Smyl in his social media post Monday afternoon.
asserted
Smyl → burn → post
It’s not expected to breach the fire guard.
asserted
It → expect → guard
Local MP and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre attended the Wainwright cenotaph with flowers Monday morning.
asserted
Poilievre → attend → flowers
Smyl also thanked the seven other fire services that stepped up to help with Saturday’s grassfire response.
asserted
that → thank → response
“I am also humbled by the number of departments that reached out to help,” he wrote.
asserted
he → humble → departments
By Monday morning, some of Smyl’s firefighters had been awake for three days, according to Local MP and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who showed up at the cenotaph with flowers after a meeting with the fire chief.
uncertain
who → accord → chief
Poilievre thanked the first responders, “who ran towards and not away from the fire” to help.
asserted
who → thank → fire
The Aporia
