The BC Government says a pair of Resiliency Centres have been opened up for people who lost homes, business, and structures to wildfires this summer.

Emergency Management Minster Bowinn Ma says one of those centres – at the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Salmon Arm – is meant to support Columbia-Shuswap Regional District residents who were affected by the Bush Creek East wildfire.

The other resiliency centre on Westbank First Nation land in West Kelowna is meant to support recovery from the McDougall Creek wildfire.

“Community resiliency centres are one-stop shops to assist people and businesses as they begin the transition from response to recovery,” Ma said.

“They bring together different resources into one place to provide supports and information from a variety of government and non-government agencies. These include Service BC, Work BC, Service Canada, provincial and municipal building permit advisory support, insurance support, community case workers and others, depending on the needs of those communities.”

Speaking Monday, Ma said there are still about 1,200 people on evacuation order across B.C., with over 34,000 still on evacuation alert. She also said the Province of B.C. will continue to work with communities to develop recovery plans to ensure they have the supports they need as “different communities will move into recovery at different paces.”

“The fires we experienced this year are having a lasting, significant impact on people and communities,” Ma said. “Many of the structures lost were people’s homes, and a loss of a structure is one thing, but when its your home, what is lost is a lot more than wood, concrete, and steel. For some, the only photographs and images they had of friends and loved ones lost from this world have also now been lost in those fires.”

“I also want to acknowledge that while structural losses can be devastating for people and communities, a community does not necessarily need to experience structural loss to be left reeling form the wildfire season.”

There are currently 394 wildfires burning across the province, with 10 listed as wildfires of note. Only one of those fires of note – the Ross Moore Lake fire south of Kamloops – is currently being held.

“Comparing those numbers to one year ago today, there is a dramatic difference,” Forests Minister, Bruce Ralston, said. “At this time last year, there were only 188 actives wildfires, and five wildfires of note.”

Nearly 24,000 square kilometres of land has been scorched so far this wildfire season, with 78 per cent of that being in the Prince George fire region.