Info for Evacuees
Food Resources for Wildfire Evacuees in Kamloops
Evacuees in need of free of meals and food can see our Kamloops Emergency Food Resources and Community Meal Calendar.
ESS Information for Evacuees
If you do not require ESS assistance, you do not need to visit a reception centre. In many cases, home or tenant insurance provides greater support than what is available through ESS, so be sure to speak with your insurance representative to see what is available to you.
If you do require ESS assistance for shelter, food or incidentals, you must visit a reception centre to apply and complete an eligibility interview. Registering online is not enough.
To qualify for ESS support, your primary residence must be located within an evacuation order area. People evacuated from vacation rentals or owners of secondary residences in the evacuation order area are not eligible to receive ESS assistance.
To speed up processing for ESS, register online at https://ess.gov.bc.ca/ and download and activate the BC Services Card App from Google Play or the Apple App Store to receive supports via etransfer once you’ve been processed.
For Animals
B.C. wildfire evacuees that are in need of emergency boarding for your animals can contact the BC SPCA Animal Helpline at 1-855-622-7722.
The wildfire situation continues to change at a rapid pace. For the most up to date information, visit BCWildfire.ca
How to Help
We understand that everyone want to help evacuees, but please do not walk-up to ESS reception centres to volunteer – this prevents ESS Volunteers from doing their jobs. ESS volunteers must have specific training, course work, and police checks, which cannot be done on site. If you are interested in volunteering, register at Kamloops.ca/ESSVolunteer – you will be contacted about volunteer training opportunities as capacity allows.
Folks are also ask not to bring donations of any kind to ESS reception centres. Volunteers do not have the capacity to sort through and distribute donations. Instead, make a financial donation online at uwbc.ca/campaign/wildfires or spca.bc.ca/bc-wildfire-animal-support/ – and please do not donate food! Some ESS centres are experiencing an overwhelming amount of perishable food donations.
For the most up-to date information on the wildfire situation and how you can help, visit BCWildfire.ca
