Electoral Area I, Cariboo is on Canada’s flood inventory: 3 listed, led by Fraser Basin Council
The burn rate around Electoral Area I, Cariboo is 0.16% a year (6.4% of the land within 25 km since 1986), a moderate band. Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.012 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. In Health Canada’s survey, 12% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Electoral Area I, Cariboo a grade of B; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Electoral Area I, Cariboo’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Electoral Area I, Cariboo: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Electoral Area I, 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 I, Cariboo: B
Two inputs always count for Electoral Area I, Cariboo, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
A moderate wildfire record for Electoral Area I, Cariboo: 6.4% within 25 km burned, 0.2% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Electoral Area I, Cariboo’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The yearly burn rate around Electoral Area I, Cariboo is 0.16%, above 0.000% for the typical Canadian town but under the high band.
Forest fuel covers 61% of the land close to Electoral Area I, Cariboo and 71% 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
At 0.16% a year, Electoral Area I, Cariboo is near the top in British Columbia: 43rd of 256, 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.
Electoral Area I, Cariboo is in the moderate band, which holds 5.4% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 2.1% 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 I, Cariboo is on the flood map inventory: 3 studies, latest by Fraser Basin Council
Flood studies whose area touches Electoral Area I, Cariboo, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
3 studies on the inventory touch Electoral Area I, Cariboo, the newest Fraser Basin Council’s from 2021, and their areas can be large, so they say maps exist, not that the town floods.
| 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 |
| 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
Flood maps are common in British Columbia: 76% of towns have one, against 58% nationally, and Electoral Area I, Cariboo is among them.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The studies touching Electoral Area I, Cariboo lean recent: 2 of 3 date from the 2020s, the first from the 1990s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Electoral Area I, Cariboo.
Flood mapping is shown for Electoral Area I, 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 I, Cariboo: $0.012 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.
Electoral Area I, Cariboo’s $0.012 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.4 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in British Columbia expects $0.36 a year in shaking damage; Electoral Area I, Cariboo expects less, $0.012, and Duncan the most, $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.
Electoral Area I, Cariboo is in the lower part of Canada’s range for earthquake risk; 84% 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).
The model counts damage to Electoral Area I, Cariboo’s buildings and their occupants from shaking only: not liquefaction, landslides, tsunami or fires after a quake.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Test for radon in Electoral Area I, Cariboo: 12% of area homes were over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Electoral Area I, Cariboo’s survey area reads 12% over the guideline, well past the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. For radon tests, the only official count covers all of the Northern Interior health region, Electoral Area I, Cariboo included.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Electoral Area I, 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.
One test in ten or more tops the guideline around Electoral Area I, Cariboo, as in 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 4.6% go higher.
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 I, 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 I, Cariboo
Alerts for Electoral Area I, 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 I, 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 I, Cariboo
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area I, Cariboo | Moderate | $0.012 | 12% | Yes |
| Electoral Area A, Cariboo 6,172 · 7.8 km | Low | $0.010 | 12% | Yes |
| Quesnel 10,253 · 10 km | Low | $0.010 | 12% | Yes |
| Electoral Area B, Cariboo 4,169 · 19 km | Low | $0.010 | 12% | Yes |
Electoral Area I, Cariboo’s moderate band tops its neighbours; Electoral Area A, Cariboo is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Electoral Area I, Cariboo faces
What to do about the hazards Electoral Area I, Cariboo faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- 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.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- How close is the forest edge?
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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 I, Cariboo’s.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Electoral Area I, Cariboo.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Electoral Area I, Cariboo’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Electoral Area I, Cariboo takes its 2007 health region’s share.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Electoral Area I, Cariboo
Is Electoral Area I, Cariboo at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 6.4% of the land within 25 km of Electoral Area I, Cariboo has burned since 1986, the last in 2025, a moderate band that leaves Risk alone.
Is radon a problem in Electoral Area I, Cariboo?
In Health Canada’s survey, 12% of 208 homes tested in Electoral Area I, Cariboo’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Does Electoral Area I, Cariboo flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Electoral Area I, Cariboo; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
How is Electoral Area I, Cariboo’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Electoral Area I, Cariboo grades B for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Electoral Area I, Cariboo?
About $0.012 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Electoral Area I, Cariboo.
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).