Electoral Area B, Cariboo is on Canada’s flood inventory: 4 listed, led by Fraser Basin Council
Burn scars are few around Electoral Area B, Cariboo, with 1.4% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.03% a year). Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.010 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. Radon is higher than usual: 12% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Electoral Area B, Cariboo grades B+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Electoral Area B, Cariboo’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Electoral Area B, Cariboo: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Electoral Area B, Cariboo faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Electoral Area B, Cariboo grades B+ for hazard risk
Earthquake risk and radon make Electoral Area B, Cariboo’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
Its place: #20 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,377 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Wildfire is rare near Electoral Area B, Cariboo: 1.4% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0.1% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Electoral Area B, Cariboo’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The yearly burn rate around Electoral Area B, Cariboo is 0.03%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
There is forest near Electoral Area B, Cariboo’s homes (50% within 5 km) and more of it further out (77% within 25 km).
Shares of land within 5 and 25 km of populated blocks: burned at least once in 1986–2025 (CWFIS burned-area composite), forest fuel and grass (fire behaviour fuel types, 2026, 250 m grid).
Burn rate a year, towns in British Columbia · highest of 255
Electoral Area B, Cariboo sits mid-table in British Columbia: 80th of 255 towns, at 0.03% a year, well behind Oliver (0.98%).
Each bar: the yearly average share of land within 25 km of a town’s homes that burned, 1986–2025 (CWFIS); the seven highest towns of 2,500 people or more.
Low, like 92% of the country’s 2,610 towns: the land around Electoral Area B, Cariboo burns, but slower than in the 7.5% above it.
Bands of the yearly burn rate: low under 0.05%, moderate under 0.25%, high under 1%, very high 1% or more; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Canadian Wildland Fire Information System: National Burned Area Composite 1986–2025 and fire behaviour fuel types (2026), Natural Resources Canada. Measured within 25 km and 5 km of each populated dissemination area; past fire, not a forecast.
Electoral Area B, Cariboo is on the flood map inventory: 4 studies, latest by Fraser Basin Council
Flood studies whose area touches Electoral Area B, Cariboo, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
The newest of 4 studies covering Electoral Area B, Cariboo is Fraser Basin Council’s, from 2021; open its map to see the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cariboo Regional District Flood Hazard Assessment | Fraser Basin Council | 2021 | final |
| City of Quesnel Flood Hazard and Floodplain Mapping | City of Quesnel | 2020 | final |
| Naver and Hixon Creeks at Hixon Floodplain Mapping | Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy | 1996 | final |
| Fraser and Quesnel Rivers at Quesnel Floodplain Mapping (including Baker Creek) | Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy | 1992 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
76% of towns in British Columbia have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Electoral Area B, Cariboo has one too.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The 4 studies touching Electoral Area B, Cariboo are spread over time, from the 1990s to the 2020s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Electoral Area B, Cariboo.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Electoral Area B, Cariboo floods.
The inventory’s own caution (NRCan): “The Canada Flood Map (CFM) does not include every flood hazard map in Canada and may be incomplete or contain inaccuracies. It should not be relied upon as the official source of flood mapping information. Furthermore, if a map appears to be missing, this does not necessarily mean that the area has never been mapped. For the official version of a map, updated information, or confirmation of applicable regulations, please contact the local authority responsible for flood mapping.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Little shaking expected in Electoral Area B, Cariboo: $0.010 a year per $1,000
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
At $0.010 per $1,000, Electoral Area B, Cariboo carries 0.3 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030): low.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.010, Electoral Area B, Cariboo is below the typical town in British Columbia ($0.36); Duncan is highest at $1.33.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Most of Canada’s 2,611 towns (86%) face more earthquake damage than Electoral Area B, Cariboo.
Each column: the share of Canada’s towns of 2,500 people or more in that range of yearly loss per $1,000 (NRCan, 2022).
Roads, pipes and bridges aren’t in Electoral Area B, Cariboo’s figure, nor landslides or tsunami: it is buildings and shaking.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
12% of homes tested around Electoral Area B, Cariboo are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Measured across the Northern Interior health region: radon tests
the typical Canadian town has 6.6% over the guideline; Electoral Area B, Cariboo’s area has 12%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Electoral Area B, Cariboo’s area, at 12%, is above the median in British Columbia (1.8%), and 1.9% of its tests passed 600 Bq/m³.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
More high tests than most: Electoral Area B, Cariboo sits in a band that only 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns share, with 4.6% above.
Each bar: the share of Canada’s towns of 2,500 people or more whose survey area had that share of tests over 200 Bq/m³.
A survey sample isn’t a map: any home in Electoral Area B, Cariboo can be high, and a three-month test is the only way to know.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Electoral Area B, Cariboo
Alerts for Electoral Area B, Cariboo come from Environment and Climate Change Canada and, for emergencies, Alert Ready.
| Alert | What it means |
|---|---|
| Warning | Severe weather is happening or about to: act now. |
| Watch | Conditions favour severe weather: be ready. |
| Advisory | Weather that is less severe but could disrupt the day. |
| Special weather statement | Unusual weather worth knowing about. |
| Special air quality statement | Poor air, often wildfire smoke. |
Fire danger and active fires near Electoral Area B, Cariboo are mapped daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System; evacuation orders come from the municipality or province.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Electoral Area B, Cariboo
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area B, Cariboo | Low | $0.010 | 12% | Yes |
| Quesnel 10,253 · 11 km | Low | $0.010 | 12% | Yes |
| Electoral Area C, Cariboo 1,289 · 15 km | Low | $0.008 | 12% | Yes |
| Electoral Area A, Cariboo 6,172 · 17 km | Low | $0.010 | 12% | Yes |
| Electoral Area I, Cariboo 1,707 · 19 km | Moderate | $0.012 | 12% | Yes |
The heaviest fire record nearby is Electoral Area I, Cariboo’s, moderate to Electoral Area B, Cariboo’s low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Electoral Area B, Cariboo faces
Practical steps for Electoral Area B, Cariboo’s hazards, most pressing first.
- Test for three months in winter.
- Over 200 Bq/m³: fix it.
- Kits are cheap; pros test too.
- Never drive through floodwater.
- Move papers and medicines upstairs.
- Ask whether your street is mapped.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Radon is a survey. Radon figures pool the survey’s home tests by area: postal areas once their boundaries arrive, the 2007 health region around Electoral Area B, Cariboo until then.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Electoral Area B, Cariboo’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as Electoral Area B, Cariboo’s.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Electoral Area B, Cariboo without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Electoral Area B, Cariboo
Is radon a problem in Electoral Area B, Cariboo?
12% of the 208 homes Health Canada tested around Electoral Area B, Cariboo topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
Does Electoral Area B, Cariboo flood?
A flood study covers Electoral Area B, Cariboo on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
How is Electoral Area B, Cariboo’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Electoral Area B, Cariboo’s Hazard risk grade is B+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
How big is the earthquake risk in Electoral Area B, Cariboo?
Expected earthquake damage in Electoral Area B, Cariboo comes to $0.010 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is Electoral Area B, Cariboo at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Electoral Area B, Cariboo’s band is low, with 1.4% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2023), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
Seismic risk: Natural Resources Canada. Radon: Health Canada. Wildfire: Canadian Wildland Fire Information System. Flood studies: Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
Sources: NRCan, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model 2022 · Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes · CWFIS, National Burned Area Composite and FBP fuel types · NRCan, Canada Flood Map Inventory. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).