Scotty Creek Research Facility damaged by late wildfire

The Scotty Creek Research Facility, which studies climate change in the Northwest Territories, has been partially destroyed by a late season wildfire. The station was founded in the 1990s by William Quinton of Wilfrid Laurier University and was handed over to the Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ First Nation (LKFN) this August. The station was used for camps, high school student visits, and community events, and attracted researchers from around the world looking to study environmental factors. LKFN has stated that five of the nine buildings that made up the facility have burned down, with total damages of over $1M. The station will be closed for the next year as it is rebuilt. “It’s in our best interest to get this thing going again,” said Dieter Cazon, the director of lands and resources at LKFN. “This collaborative work we’re doing together is going to be the only way we’re going to figure a lot of these answers out.”