 I'm going to speak directly to the people who have lost their homes to wildfires. The impacts left by these fires are deep, but I know that it is not just the physical space that makes a home. It is the people who have lost their homes to wildfires. The impacts left by these fires are deep, but I know that it is not just the physical space that makes a home. It is the love, the memories and the shared experiences. I cannot comprehend the pain that many of you are going through at this time, but I do know that the spirit of British Columbians lives in our compassionate support for one another and that you are not alone. Your neighbors, your community, your provinces with you. As people go through evacuations and experience a deep sense of loss, it is incredibly important that we look out for one another and pay close attention to our mental health. The province, health authorities and other agencies are working to connect people to vital mental health services during this incredibly difficult time. And as part of that work, we deployed disaster psychological support teams to reception centres in the interior. These compassionate teams use a community wellness approach to give people the tools they need to reduce their level of emotional distress. First Nations health authority staff are also attending reception centres to support indigenous peoples in accessing culturally safe wellness counseling services and traditional wellness resources. If you need mental health supports or just want somebody to talk to, please call the BC mental health supports line for free at 310-6789. Again, that number is 310-6789. They are available to help 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Additionally, youth aged 12 to 24 can access virtual supports on the Foundry BC app and at foundrybc.ca. I cannot understate how important these tools are. If you need someone to talk to, please do not hesitate. Over the past weekend, numerous evacuation orders have been downgraded and rescinded in parts of the Okanagan. But we are still in very challenging and dynamic times. As of this morning, there are more than 8,000 people on evacuation order and nearly 54,000 people on evacuation alert. The BC wildfire service, local governments and First Nations are working diligently to assess the situation and make sure that areas are safe before people can return to their home. Keeping people safe is our first priority. As soon as it is safe, you'll be allowed to return to your community. While the situation has momentarily stabilized in the Okanagan, now is not the time to let our guard down. Yesterday, the warming and drying trend continued with above seasonal temperatures in the south and the north. There are several heat warnings in effect in Peace River, in Fort Nelson and north coast inland. We have all seen how quickly the situation can change in 24-hour period. Please continue to be prepared, have an emergency plan and a grab-and-go kit ready for you, your family and your pets. Your First Nation or local authority will provide information on evacuation routes and evacuation reception centres where you can access emergency support services. If you are under an evacuation order, please leave the area immediately. This helps protect your community, your family, yourself and emergency management personnel. I want to sincerely thank everyone who has been following evacuation orders. I know that it is stressful, I know that it is difficult, but it is incredibly important and it is the law. EvacUE reception centres and service providers are working around the clock to ensure that everyone who has been asked to evacuate their homes has the support and services that they might require. While these reception centres are operated by local communities, the province is providing support by training more volunteers, calling on teams from other communities across the province to launch virtual support centres and adding service BC staff to help make sure evacuees get the support that they need. I want to thank all of the local government and First Nations teams and their volunteers who have stepped up across the province to help support people in the interior during this past week. They may be volunteers, but they are trained, committed and devoted professionals in their own right and we couldn't do this work without them. Thousands of evacuees have taken up the support and our emergency management personnel have been working around the clock to make sure that every call for help is answered. Early last year, everyone, pardon me, early last week. Early last week, everyone who registered for emergency support services was called back and referred to accommodations were needed. This has been a monumental task, but we have put in the necessary resources to make sure that everyone is supported. If you are currently evacuated and require support that you have not yet received, please call 1-800-585-9559. Again, that number is 1-800-585-9559. For any evacuees who are currently evacuated and still require support that they have not yet received. The steps we took over the last couple of weeks to ensure accommodation have been successful. We have rooms available, we have supports ready, we are here to help. Because emergency support services is normally provided the same day it is requested, it is not typically provided retroactively. That being said, we are acutely aware that the West Kelowna reception centre faced challenges processing the number of evacuees that arrived there in a timely manner, resulting in abnormally long wait times before being referred to accommodations and receiving per diem supports. I have asked my ministry to work closely with the local authority managing the West Kelowna reception centre to look at these cases with compassion and flexibility to determine where additional supports might be required. We are working quickly to establish a process for people who were unable to receive emergency support services due to long wait times and covered costs for accommodations through their own means. People can call 1-800-585-9559 or email embc.ess at gov.bc.ca to provide information about their situation and we will follow up. So once again, that number, the same number I provided earlier, 1-800-585-9559 and the email address is embc.ess at gov.bc.ca In the meantime, we have worked with the BC Hotel Association to ensure coverage of accommodation supports for people who are currently in accommodation but were only able to register after they secured accommodation. We will also be conducting a detailed review with the local authorities so that we can better understand what happened at the West Kelowna reception centre and how we can make sure that those challenges don't impede emergency support services delivery in the future at this or any other site. It comes as no surprise that people across the province and beyond have been eager to provide support to people who have been displaced from their homes. While much appreciated, the donation of goods and services can be a logistical challenge for teams already under immense pressure. So if you would like to help, I'm asking you to make a monetary donation to trusted organisations such as the United Way of British Columbia, Canadian Red Cross, BC SPCA or food banks of British Columbia. Before I turn it over to Minister Ralston, I'd like to once again thank the BC Wildfire Service, local fire departments, the RCMP, healthcare providers, search and rescue teams, emergency support services personnel and volunteers and everyone, everyone who has been working long hours to protect people, their communities to support one another and to take care of one another. Thank you so much. I'll now turn it over to Minister Ralston. Thanks very much, Minister Ma. Good afternoon everyone. I'm Bruce Ralston, Minister of Forests, honoured to be here today on the traditional territory of the Muscovines, Squamish and Slavictooth peoples. Over the past 10 days, we've witnessed remarkable scenes at wildfires in several places in British Columbia. Scenes of tremendous heroism as firefighters, both wildland and structural, have worked around the clock to protect people. And terrible tragedy as the full scale of the destruction becomes clearer. My heart goes out to everyone who has been displaced this wildfire season and especially to those who have lost their homes or their livelihoods or both. Although the road ahead will be challenging I want all those people to know that we are there for them when the time comes. But unfortunately, we are still in the midst of one of our most challenging wildfire seasons on record. It is not over by any means. It has been heartening to watch many people return home in recent days as evacuation alerts and orders have been downgraded or rescinded. However, many communities still remain on alert and order and many wildfires remain highly active. Unseasonably high temperatures in the northern half of the province are causing heightened wildfire activity. The BC Wildfire Services is actively positioning more resources in the north to prepare. We are grateful for the return of the land task force from the Canadian Armed Forces who will be among those resources supporting the wildfire effort in the northern half of the province. We are also grateful for the 200 South African firefighters who arrived this weekend. But we are not through this season yet. The situation can change rapidly. The BC Wildfire Service continues to do incredible work. These dedicated and resilient people are now in their fourth month of heightened wildfire activity with 1,944 wildfires so far this season. We are also fortunate and grateful for further international assistance this month. Additional wildfire fighters from Mexico, I mentioned the South Africans are now in their fourth month of the year. Additional wildfire fighters from Mexico, I mentioned the South Africans in Australia are now assisting in the fight. All told, there are about 3,500 people directly engaged in the response to the 376 active fires burning around British Columbia. And of these, 12 are fires of note. This week, the weather is expected to be mixed across British Columbia. In the north, a ridge of high pressure is expected to increase over the next few days. While in the south, it is possible some significant rain may reduce wildfire risks. Just before I turn back to Minister Ma, I would like to remind people again how much the firefighting effort relies on public assistance. That is your help. Throughout this wildfire season, British Columbians have done an incredible job reporting wildfires using the wildfire app and star 55555 from a cell phone. But let me tell you that our teams on the ground are extremely appreciative of the photos shared through the app reports. I strongly urge everyone to keep it up. Thank you. Thank you so much. Minister Ralston will now turn it over for questions in addition to Minister Ralston. And myself, we have Cliff Chapman on the line, director of wildfire operations with the BC Wildfire Service. We have Peter Brock, executive director of regional operations with EMCR and Chrissy Oliver, executive director of provincial response programs, also at EMCR. Thank you. A reminder to media on the phones, please press star one to enter the queue. That's star one to ask a question. For media in the room, please line up at the microphone provided and please make sure to provide your full name and outlet. Media will be limited to one question and one follow-up. We will be starting in the room today. Please go ahead. Hello, this is Maggie McPherson with CBC. We're hearing from people in the shoe shop that they used to be able to in the past stay to shelter in place, but staff at the Ministry of Emergency Preparedness are saying that nothing has changed since 2003. So we're wondering how has the language changed around evacuation orders? Has it changed since 2017? The Emergency Program Act has not been updated in that timeframe. Our next update is this fall when we introduce the Emergency Disaster Management Act. And it will be one of the most significant overhauls of that Emergency Program Act in decades. So that will be tabled this fall. However, the powers that are afforded to local authorities, First Nations, regional districts to issue evacuation orders will carry through into the new legislation. Oh, geez, definitely predates my time. I don't know, Peter, if you know when the last update to the Emergency Program Act was. Regional operations. I'll circle back with the exact date. It's predates me as well. So it's been some time. That's for sure. Yeah, we'll get back to you. Thanks. It's been some time. That's for sure. Yeah, we'll get back to you. Thanks. Next question. I'm going to head to the phones. Our first question on the phones today is Keith Aldry from Global. Please go ahead. Oh, I thank you. Minister Rawls, I think it's for you or perhaps either of you. We've had two formal reviews after really bad fire seasons in the past, one headed by former Manitoba Premier Gary Filman and also by former government government, Mr. George Abbott. Given what we've seen this year, that's the worst ever season. Is there an expectation you're going to name or the government will name someone to conduct a formal review to see what worked and what didn't work this summer? Thank you. Thank you for the question. You're correct in mentioning those two formal reviews. After every wildfire season, there is an internal review that takes place to look at where the service might have done better, where our relations and our output might have been better. There has been no decision taken yet about a formal review of the kind that you speak of. And Keith, did you have a follow up? Yes, you mentioned that there are 200 firefighters in from South Africa, which is great. Joining, I think, what, a couple of hundred from Mexico, a hundred from Brazil, a hundred from Costa Rica. They're having calls for sort of a national fire fighting service. And one of the responses is that BC has an adequate resources in place. But do we really have adequate resources in place when we have to go outside the country in some cases very far distances to bring in hundreds of people to fight wildfires? Let me begin by saying that the BC Wildfire Service is an excellent firefighting service, widely and highly regarded across Canada and indeed around the world. At the present time, we do, and as we, I think both Minister Ma and I noted, do have support from the federal forces. Earlier in the summer they were in northern British Columbia. They have returned. When Premier Eby, Minister Ma and myself were in Kelowna and Kamloops, Minister Harjeet Sajjan, who's the equivalent to Minister Amaw in the federal government, was there and certainly expressed his continuing support for federal support. So it is part of the arrangements that we have with other provinces and other countries. And we are not short of personnel and we're grateful to have that international support. Again, as we look back over this season, once the season has passed and we're still in the middle of it, that will be, I'm sure, one of the topics of review. Our next question is Lauren Pollen, CTV. Please go ahead. Hi there, thanks for taking my question. This is from Minister Ma. I'm just wanting to touch base and ask about the role and help from the province in that rebuilding effort. Of course, we see the continued devastation of more homes being destroyed or severely damaged by wildfire. The Central Okanagan Regional District says that it's asking for rural areas that don't have a tax base for rebuilding to be able to get sustained funding for that effort and also look at like an EOC model year round to try and deal with wildfire fighting throughout the entire year. But I'm just wondering, provincially, what you guys have mapped out and what kind of commitment can be made to help with the rebuilding effort? For sure. There was a lot in that question, so I'll try to cover as much of it as possible. First off, the concept of the need to bolster our emergency management capacity at all levels of government is absolutely valid. What we are seeing in recent years is that the impacts of climate change are causing extreme climate events to happen with greater frequency, closer together. We see communities that are actively trying to recover from one disaster being hit by another disaster immediately. It used to be that these kinds of extreme weather events would hit communities once in a while and we would be able to work with communities to gear up their emergency management teams on the fly and respond to the needs at hand. But now they're becoming so frequent and so common right across the province that that very important question of how much more we need to bolster those services is very, very valid. And I think that we have a lot to do. This is why the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness was created several months ago and we have worked to do with local governments as well to build their capacity. There are some communities in rural areas as well that have quite strong emergency management teams as a result of experience. And it is sadly a... It's one of those things where you're... It's unfortunate that these communities have had to become so good at responding to and recovering from disasters. And there are others that are starting to recognize the need as well and we want to be there to support them. We do currently have a fund called the Community Emergency Preparedness Fund. We topped it up with $180 million earlier this year. It has had a total of $369 million in that program over the last five or six years. Communities are able to apply to them in order to build up structural mitigation projects as an example, or to build up capacity within their EOCs and their emergency support services teams to train volunteers to get to purchase assets. There are streams that allow communities funding to explore and understand the risks of extreme weather like extreme heat and extreme cold. It covers quite a bit, so that's a major source of funding for communities right now. In terms of recovery, I think it's important to note that lots of these communities are still actively assessing the extent of the damage from the wildfires. And so they're looking to assess the full scope of damage and losses and those assessments will help inform the kinds of supports that are required for their people and their communities. In the meantime, I do encourage that anybody who has lost their home or sustained damage from a wildfire reach out to their insurance provider right away and in the meantime, we have applied to the federal government for disaster financial assistance arrangement authorization to help support the costs associated with repairing public amenities and public infrastructure like roads, buildings, and as well as to support cleanup. Lauren, did you have a follow-up? I do. Thank you. It's for Director Chapman. Just a question about some of the wildlife concerns we've been hearing, an increase of bears and cougars in evacuated areas in the shoe swap region we've heard about, possibly drawn there by food sources like garbage, a lot of food with the power out. Have you heard about that and the impact of the span across multiple fire areas or is it just localized to the shoe swap from what you've heard? And are there any dangers for people who are now returning home or what do they need to be aware of? Yeah, I really appreciate the question and I think Pater actually will probably have more of the answer to your question than I will. What I will say is that, yes, I mean, animals are instinctively smart when they're in the forest, right? So they are generally ahead of the fire. They know it's going to have the potential to spread and that's about as far as my expertise goes. And so in terms of your specific question, I would ask Pater maybe to step into that space around tips for homeowners that are returning home and interactions with wildlife. Yeah. Yeah, thanks Pater Brock, the executive director for provincial region operations for EMCR. So we do have quite a bit available from a public education standpoint from the provincial government on how to deal with wildlife as it pertains to some of the issues that come up. So we'll be sure to follow up and provide that information to you. And for me, the audio broke off on if there's a remainder part of that question that I didn't answer. Next question. Next question. We're going to go to Xiaozhu, Globe and Mail. Please go ahead. Thanks. This is for Cliff. We heard that over the weekend some residents in the shoes walk area took fire training courses. Could you please let us know is there an interest in doing things differently going forward? And how do you intend to work together with this small loosely organized group? Cliff over. Mr. Mon, thank you for the question. You know, I think absolutely to answer your question very candidly. If we if we've witnessed anything and Minister Ma referenced it very well, the climate related emergency hazards are on the rise in BC. And with it, we need to be willing to adjust. We need to be willing to evolve. We need to be willing to learn from the things that we're experiencing right now. What's happening in the shoes walk, I think is a great collective effort from the CSRD, the Columbia shoes walk regional district, the local residents of that area and BC wildfire service really working together to try to achieve a common objective, a common outcome of protecting people's homes and getting people home sooner. In terms of the expandability of this, it's actually something that we were highly invested in prior to this fire season. And it's something that we want to expand in terms of capacity at the community level is is obviously a positive thing for this province as we continue to manage through difficult fire seasons, difficult flood seasons and the ability for us to also potentially have resources to do risk reduction work when we're not experiencing climate emergencies. So training is a big win that sets the foundation so that people can operate safely. That's ultimately our top priority is keeping responders and the public safe. And so once we get that baseline training, which I understand as you do that we were, we offered that training this weekend, or it was offered to residents in that particular fire. But I think the expandability of this is, is quite present. And it's something that we are capturing and are very interested in pursuing as we head into the fall and look forward to, you know, our evolution as we head into 2024 fire season. Revolution as we head into 2024 fire season. Now, did you have a follow-up? Yes, I do. Thanks. What's been the main reason BC Wildfire Service has been reluctant in the past to include these people as volunteers? So before I pass it over to Cliff, I do want to emphasize the BC Wildfire Service does work with communities in coordinating responses right across the province. They have lots of partnerships with First Nations, with local governments and with contractors and industry groups. So there is a substantial amount of coordination and cooperation, but it all has to be done in a coordinated manner under a centralized control so that everyone knows what each other is doing. It has to be a basic level of training available as well, training in the people who are being involved as well to ensure safety for them and the people around them. So with that, maybe I'll pass it back to Cliff to see if he wants to add anything, but I do want to emphasize that there are a lot of very successful partnerships right across the province. It very well. I wouldn't use the word hesitant to use this in the past. I think as it described in my last answer, we are an agency that is willing to learn and be adaptable as things present themselves. And obviously this year has presented lots of challenges for our agency, but more importantly for the people of BC, and we're trying to actively look at opportunities to get better, to get stronger as an agency so that we can continue to grow and be ready in the face of these fires that continue to present themselves. I want to be also clear that we are putting these people on hire so they are not volunteers once they get through so that they work in our command structure is that we are going to have them working for us, not volunteering for us. I think that's a critical piece to try to make sure that foundation is set and that it's fair and that the community doesn't get asked to volunteer within our structure. And so that's just one point of clarity on that. But yeah, I wouldn't say it was hesitation. I would say that, you know, as the world changes and as we deal with these climate related hazards that are impacting communities, we need to change with it and we are willing to change with it and we are willing to Cassidy CFTK news terrace. Please go ahead. Thank you minister. Thank you. There's your all of your work and we're giving the update. We're doing. Whether. It's a problem with your connection. Can we get you to repeat that again slowly please? Sorry, thank you director and thank you minister for taking this call. Director Kauffman, let it breathe in the north reallocation of resources from the south as it transitions from fighting to recovering. Can the northern part of the province expect a boost in the numbers already up here fighting the fires, especially in the N'Chaco plateau. We'll go straight to cliff. Obviously we've seen sort of this shift. We saw it earlier in the year when we went from the north and then we saw activity in the south. Well, the north got a little bit of reprieve with some rain. What we're experiencing right now and as, as we get through Tuesday and Wednesday of this week is the reverse of that. So the south is likely to see rain. I think we're all hopeful that it'll be in a significant amount of rain. Well, the north is forecasted to stay hot and dry, which it already has been for the last number of days. So to put it bluntly, yes, we are, we are looking at all of our resourcing and our allocations to the north. We're looking at all of those resources as was already discussed. The commitment has been made to move the military assets back into the north when, when they're ready to get active, which will be in the next 24 hours or 36 hours. So we're moving those resources to the north. In addition, as our resources come off of their planned recovery time. So they're time off. We're looking at allocating those resources and they, those are coming up every day. They're coming up every day. And we're looking at those across the whole province, right? I mean, our, our job is to prioritize based on, on BSEMs and obviously life and property being at the top. And then it comes down from there. And so we will see a continual flow of resources to the north. But we are not going to start stripping everything off of our fires in the south. We have to find that. Balance. And that's what we're working to do. And we've already enacted that a lot of that planning. We have resources moving as we speak. Planning. We have resources moving as we speak. Brandon, did you have a follow-up? Yeah, I did. Thank you so much. The director for that explanation, especially in light of the time it takes to reallocate and figure that stuff out. With the smoke warnings and local smoke, that surrounding Northwest, especially, is there anything that you could recommend to the people besides visiting the websites that people can do to limit the smoke inhalation or illnesses or symptoms? So certainly smoke and smoke from wildfires has been a challenge for many communities. And I think that's one of the things that we're working on. And smoke from wildfires has been a challenge for many communities right across the province. Well, not just our province, but really across the country and across many parts of the world. Our advice to individuals is to avoid exercising outdoors and limit their exposure to outdoor air. Stay indoors. Keep your windows closed. Provided that it's not in a heat warning because then we will have to balance that as well. Have a HEPA filter in your home to clean the air. And if you are outside, wear an N95 mask. We will work with communities to help them keep clean air spaces open. That could be a community center. It could be a mall. It could be a library. Lots of communities have access to these kinds of facilities that can act as clean air spaces. And we will support them in keeping those open for extended periods of time as well. Generally speaking, it's about staying indoors, limiting your time, your exposure outside, wearing a N95 mask if you are outside, and checking in on vulnerable loved ones as well. For our next question, we're going to Grady McTavish, CJ DC News in the piece. Hi there. Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. This is sort of a general question. We're up here in the peace region here and in the north. And as you were saying, allocating some resources from the south to the north there due to hot and dry conditions. Is there an expectation there's going to be an increase in wildfire activity? Or is that more of a precaution at this point? Over to you, Cliff. I would say if we've learned from this season that when we see the hot and dry conditions over top of the underlying drought that we've experienced across this province for the better part of the last year, the conditions matter and they matter a lot in terms of fire behavior. So what we experienced over the last 48 hours is some of those fires in the north, which we knew were not out. But they were contained on the perimeter and we knew kind of what the trigger points were for the values that might have been around those fires. We've started to see those fires that have essentially been laying dormant for the last few weeks. Fine pockets of fuel and start to start to ignite again essentially. And so with that, we are expecting to see growth on those fires. We saw a little bit of growth over the weekend. We're expecting more as we go through the next couple of days. I think the, you know, we'll see how the winds show up in the north or through the next period, the next three or four operational periods, but it's something that we are paying very close attention to and making our planning decisions around is that the south is expected to get rain. And the north is expected to stay hot and dry and may see a bit of an increase in wind. So we will move resources based on that forecast. Resources based on that forecast. Great. Did you have a follow-up? Yeah, I do. Just in terms of the act of wildfires that you were talking about and seeing those pick up again after being dormant for a little bit. Are you mainly referring to the Donnie Creek wildfire? Are there other fires in the northeast BC that are of note? Actually, Donnie, I'm referring to some of the fires that I'm referring to. I'm referring to some of the fires that I'm referring to. While still showing some activity, hasn't been one of the primary fires that I'm referencing. So we've had, we've had a few fires. I'll reference a few of them. And then I encourage everyone again to go to our BC wildfire.ca webpage, which has more detailed information than what I can provide in a, in a media briefing, but the little blue river fire, which is far up north, close to the Yukon border. So I'm referring to some of the fires that I'm referring to. I'm referring to the open to single alternating, but that fire has shown some life. The John Brown Creek fire, which is in and around that Morristown area, that showed some life, some life over the weekend. And then we saw a new evacuation alert go in place for that general area, as well as in the Fort Nelson and surrounding area. We saw a few fires in that geographic sort of. Area. So I think that it's not restricted to just Donnie, and it's not restricted to one area within the North. It is the North, including the Northwest fire center and the Prince George fire center, as well as parts of the caribou fire center. And that's really the, the area, which is quite vast as I think we can all appreciate. So. Our next question. We can all appreciate it. So. Our next question is for Chuck Chang, Canadian press, please go ahead. Can you hear me? Yes. Thank you very much. This question is for Minister Ma. There's been some reports out there about residents not being able to get an inverse for our community accommodations. Now, I know earlier in the news conference, you mentioned that there is this new number set up for people who may have issues with their own situations to call into the province. But we're just wondering if there are reimbursement for these individuals are considered going forward as one of the possible solutions. Thank you. Yeah, thank you so much for that question. I had addressed it earlier in my in my opening remarks as well. So emergency support services are intended for evacuees who are unable to support themselves with their immediate needs after an emergency. And because emergency support services are normally provided the same day that they are requested, they're not typically provided retroactively. But that being said, we are acutely aware that because of the high volume of evacuees and the challenges that the West Kelowna emergency support services reception centre had and processing that volume of evacuees that a lot of that there are many evacuees that did not receive the supports that they required on the day that they requested it. And that resulted in abnormally long wait times in being referred to accommodations and receiving supports. So I've asked my ministry to work closely with the local authority there that is managing the West Kelowna reception centre to take a look at these cases with with compassion and flexibility and determine where additional supports might be needed. And we're working quickly to establish a process for people who were unable to receive emergency support services in a timely manner due to the long wait times and and we're forced to cover costs for accommodation on their own. And so that's the number that I've provided for folks to call 1-800-585-9559. Make yourselves known. We'll gather your contact information and follow up with you as soon as we have more more to say on that. Chuck, did you have a follow up? Yes, thank you. Minister Ma you also mentioned earlier about I think applying for some sort of federal funding supports in these in dealings in dealing with the recovery of wildfires. I was wondering if you have any additional details on the funding, you know, whether the amount or the timeline of what when you're expecting a response from the federal government in terms of amount and kind of what what it applies to, you know, I think you mentioned infrastructure but any details on that on those on that process. We did submit our request to the federal government for disaster financial assistance arrangements authorization. Several days ago we expect to hear from them imminently. They will go to support costs associated with repairing public infrastructure like roads, buildings, support the municipalities, local governments, First Nations and cleanup and so forth. We'll have more to say about that as soon as we hear back from the federal government. We have time for one more question. The final question today is for Catherine. Please go ahead. Yes, hello. Thank you for taking my question. I was wondering about the cost. You know, we just learned that from BC wildfire service that to date, like more than half a billion dollars have been spent on expression efforts. Could you give me more details about how this amount was spent? If there is other indirect costs that haven't been taken into account yet, and how would that affect the budget given that, you know, we haven't even finished the season yet. From what I can see from the last year, last year it was $400 million. A year before, $700 million. It's more and more every year. If you go back to 2012, it was around $100 million. It's getting more and more. How does that affect budgeting, too? Great. Thanks very much. I am told that the amount spent this year directly is $585 million. You're right to note that it has been higher in other years and indeed lower in other years. That really depends on the intensity of the fire season. I would add, too, that there is no financial challenge to the province. The money is there. It's there. It's there. It's there. It's where it's required and when it's required to spend. Whatever it takes to protect people, to protect property, is there and available. In terms of the details, there's obviously a number of details. Probably Cliff Chapman as director of operations can give you a little bit more of a flavor of what the money is spent on besides the obvious things of dollars being expended on this response effort in BC. I don't have the numbers broken down right in front of me. We can get that for you. What I will say is that the significant investments when it comes to response is in the form of aviation assets and in the form of personnel, ground firefighters and associated heavy equipment. Generally speaking, and this is a general sense of how our budget is funded in response. It's about 40% on aviation assets and 60% on everything else. So a significant amount of expenditure goes towards our air tanker fleet and our fixed wing, sorry, our rotary wing helicopter fleet as we've said in the past. We have a fixed wing air tanker fleet of 35 aircraft in BC right now, which is more than we normally have. Very expensive asset in addition to the rotary wing, which we have 130 helicopters on contract with us right now, again a very significant expenditure in that regard. Firefighting is a inherently expensive response business to get into. It's those aviation assets really add up in addition to when we bring in ground resources, whether that be from BC or beyond. Whether that be from BC or beyond. Thank you so much. It is worth noting that those numbers will be related to the direct wildfire response under Ministry of Forest through the BC wildfire service. It won't include the amount spent by government supporting evacuees and supporting communities in other ways. It also won't include the expenditures by other ministries such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure in their response work as well. I just wanted to clarify that. Those will be BC wildfire service numbers. Catherine, did you have a follow-up? Yes. I would like to circle back to the Shuswap story about mistrust among the residents who refused to evacuate. I was talking to some experts who were telling me, maybe because we are in a context where there will be more and more natural disasters and fires. You were saying yourself, Minister about the fact that we are in the context where some communities have more and more natural events occurring within it. The authorities will have to be working with those communities more and more. I think that is definitely something we will have to better understand and learn from this experience. I think there are always opportunities for us to learn how to better communicate and coordinate with communities. What I will say about what is happening up in the Shuswap is that we are working together now, community members and as well as the regional district in fighting a conflict which is the wildfire and that is the way it should be. Organized cooperative community response is key in all hazards and emergencies and all of these situations. That is what we will be working towards. Cliff, if you wanted to add anything. You covered it very well. Minister Ma, thank you. I think you covered it very well. Thank you. Thank you everyone. That is all we have for today.