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The province says it has opened a temporary office in Port Alberni, B.C., to continue providing some essential services after a fire destroyed the community’s Service B.C. building earlier this week.
The new office at 4805 Mar St., about three kilometres south of the original building, will be open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m to 4 p.m.
For now, people can continue to access income assistance and government payments, and the province says more services will be added at the temporary location in the coming weeks.
The original building at 4070 8th Ave. was destroyed by a fire early Tuesday morning. Its roof collapsed and police declared the structure a “complete loss.”
Port Alberni RCMP are investigating the fire as arson and say they have a suspect in custody.
The fire prompted concerns about how the loss of the office would affect people who depend on in-person government services, including residents of surrounding rural communities.
Cindy McAnerin, executive director of the Kuu-Us Crisis Line, described the loss as devastating and said having to travel to another community would have created another barrier for vulnerable residents.
In addition to Service B.C., the destroyed building also housed offices for the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction and ICBC.
Service B.C. helps connect people to services for driver’s licences, health cards, B.C. birth certificates, business registry, tenancy disputes and more.
