Photo: The Canadian Press

B.C. can't provide firefighters but the government is offering emergency management assistance to neighbouring Alberta as a fire roars around Fort McMurray, where 88,000 people have been displaced.

The B.C. Ministry of Health and Health Emergency Management BC have been in contact with Alberta Health Services and currently are preparing to provide assistance in areas identified by Alberta officials, says a government press release.

A call is going out for volunteers with B.C.'s Disaster Psychosocial Program to deploy. They include counsellors, social workers and psychologists who are trained to provide counselling and psychological support to both members of the public and responders affected by an emergency or disaster.

As well, B.C.'s Mobile Medical – a state-of-the-art hospital on wheels – is being put on standby to respond as necessary.

The release states the province has provided assistance to Alberta in previous times of crisis. In 2013, environmental health officers were sent in to conduct public-health inspections in areas that had been flooded to support the safe re-entry of those who had been evacuated.

Members of the Disaster Psychosocial Program were also sent in at that time.

The BC Wildfire Service has assumed full responsibility for firefighting efforts on the Siphon Creek wildfire, which jumped the border into Alberta border Thursday, allowing Alberta crews to focus on Fort McMurray.

Emergency Management BC, the lead agency in B.C. for co-ordinating and responding to emergencies, is ready to provide evacuation specialists and a mobile support team of experts if Alberta is in need of them.