Photo: Trougnouf · CC BY 4.0Electoral Area C, Cariboo is on Canada’s flood inventory: 2 listed, led by Fraser Basin Council
Fire seldom reaches Electoral Area C, Cariboo: since 1986, 0.2% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.006% a year). Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.008 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. More homes than usual carry radon here, 12% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Electoral Area C, Cariboo a grade of B+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Electoral Area C, Cariboo’s hazards
For Electoral Area C, Cariboo, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Electoral Area C, Cariboo faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Electoral Area C, Cariboo: B+
Earthquake risk and radon make Electoral Area C, Cariboo’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Wildfire is rare near Electoral Area C, Cariboo: 0.2% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Electoral Area C, Cariboo’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
In a typical year 0.006% of the land near Electoral Area C, Cariboo burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
Since 1986 the nearest fire to Electoral Area C, Cariboo’s homes came within 8.5 km, never inside 5 km.
Forest fuel covers 66% of the land close to Electoral Area C, Cariboo and 73% across 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 256
Electoral Area C, Cariboo burns at 0.006% a year, 115th of 256 towns in British Columbia; the leader, Oliver, reaches 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.
The low band takes in 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, Electoral Area C, Cariboo among them, though its rate is above zero; 7.5% rank higher.
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 C, Cariboo is on the flood map inventory: 2 studies, latest by Fraser Basin Council
Flood studies whose area touches Electoral Area C, Cariboo, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
The newest of 2 studies covering Electoral Area C, 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 |
| 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 C, Cariboo has one too.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping around Electoral Area C, Cariboo has come in steps: 2 studies from the 1990s to the 2020s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Electoral Area C, Cariboo.
Flood mapping is shown for Electoral Area C, Cariboo to be opened and checked, never turned into a grade.
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 C, Cariboo: $0.008 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.
Shaking costs the typical town $0.030 a year; in Electoral Area C, Cariboo it is only $0.008, 0.3 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in British Columbia peaks in Duncan ($1.33); Electoral Area C, Cariboo, at $0.008, is below the median of $0.36.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Electoral Area C, Cariboo is in the lower part of Canada’s range for earthquake risk; 87% of the 2,611 towns are higher.
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).
What a quake does after the shaking, fire, landslides, tsunami, falls outside NRCan’s figure for Electoral Area C, Cariboo.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon runs high around Electoral Area C, Cariboo: 12% of tested homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Radon runs above the typical Canadian town (6.6%) in Electoral Area C, Cariboo’s area, at 12%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Electoral Area C, 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.
4.6% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Electoral Area C, Cariboo, in the 10–20% band with 22%.
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.
Radon varies from house to house in Electoral Area C, Cariboo, so the survey is a reason to test, not a result for yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the Northern Interior health region
Where to get warnings in Electoral Area C, Cariboo
Alerts for Electoral Area C, 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. |
Alert Ready carries evacuation orders for Electoral Area C, Cariboo to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Electoral Area C, Cariboo
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area C, Cariboo | Low | $0.008 | 12% | Yes |
| Quesnel 10,253 · 11 km | Low | $0.010 | 12% | Yes |
| Electoral Area A, Cariboo 6,172 · 13 km | Low | $0.010 | 12% | Yes |
| Electoral Area B, Cariboo 4,169 · 15 km | Low | $0.010 | 12% | Yes |
Electoral Area A, Cariboo burns a little more than Electoral Area C, Cariboo, in the same low band (low here).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Electoral Area C, Cariboo faces
Practical steps for Electoral Area C, 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
- Wildfire counts one way. For Electoral Area C, Cariboo, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Electoral Area C, Cariboo’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Radon is a survey. The radon share comes from about 14,000 long-term home tests in 2009–2011, pooled for now by the 2007 health region Electoral Area C, Cariboo sits in.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. A study’s area can be a whole watershed or province, so being on the inventory says a map exists, not that a home in Electoral Area C, Cariboo floods.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Electoral Area C, Cariboo
How is Electoral Area C, Cariboo’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Electoral Area C, Cariboo B+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
How big is the earthquake risk in Electoral Area C, Cariboo?
About $0.008 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Electoral Area C, Cariboo.
Is radon a problem in Electoral Area C, Cariboo?
The area’s survey found 12% of 208 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Electoral Area C, Cariboo.
Does Electoral Area C, Cariboo flood?
Electoral Area C, Cariboo’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
Is Electoral Area C, Cariboo at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Electoral Area C, Cariboo’s low band (0.2% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2022) is short of the level that counts.
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).