Territorial Wildfire Centre under construction in Fort Smith

The new $30 million Territorial Wildfire Centre in Fort Smith will be the central artery of the wildfire management program in the NWT.

The ground was broken to mark the start of construction last week in the South Slave region community of the facility that will provide the technical needs, warehousing capacity, and facilities required for a modern wildfire management program.

Minister of Environment and Climate Change Jay MacDonald stated in a release that, “purpose-built and designed facilities support stronger wildfire operations, which support safer communities for northerners in a changing climate.”

He continued: “This is just one piece of our promise to deliver on improved emergency management in the Northwest Territories.”

The building will be constructed by Wildstone Builders, of Penticton, BC, and is designed to be resilient in the face of natural disasters, with contingencies built in to ensure safe, continuous operations and coordination throughout disasters, read the release.

Minister of Infrastructure Vince McKay stated that, “purpose-built, resilient facilities like this strengthen our ability to prevent, prepare for, and respond to wildfires in a changing climate.”