More than 13,000 people are receiving emergency support services in British Columbia as the province continues to grapple with explosive wildfire behaviour, officials said at a news conference Tuesday.

The wildfires have displaced more than 20,000 people across the province, while roughly 10,000 others have been told to prepare to leave on a moment’s notice.

Those evacuated include residents displaced by the Summerland wildfire west of Okanagan Lake, which was discovered Friday and continues to burn out of control Tuesday.

Standard staffing for a B.C. evacuee helpline has swelled from three agents to 60, and they took more than 3,000 calls on Monday alone, said Kevin Dunbar, executive director of emergency response and recovery operations at the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness.

The province has now block-booked 1,600 hotel rooms in Penticton, Kelowna and West Kelowna for evacuees, Emergency Management Minister Kelly Greene said. About 1,000 beds are also available in group lodging spaces throughout the Okanagan.

There were 102 active wildfires in B.C. On Tuesday, including four of note that are highly visible or pose a threat to public safety.

“We have seen explosive fire behavior on all four of our large fires,” said Cliff Chapman, director of wildfire operations at the BC Wildfire Service.

Mr. Chapman said the expected weather in the coming days brings potential “relief and caution,” with the Summerland region forecast to receive a reduction in temperatures, an increase in relative humidity and potentially trace amounts of rain.

“It should give us some conditions to have success in suppression,” he said.

“But in other areas where there isn’t rain, we’re going to see potentially new lightning starts. We’re going to see winds that are going to be elevated and unpredictable in terms of direction, and so we are going to continue to be challenged, even if we see precipitation enter this province.”

There remains no estimated time for re-entry to Summerland, officials said, as the Bald Range wildfire remains active. When possible, rapid damage assessments will be conducted to determine whether each structure is safe to re-enter,” Ms. Greene said.

“I totally empathize that the uncertainty is just really incredibly hard to sit with in moments of profound loss,” she said. “We will get information to people as soon as possible.”