Photo: The Interior · CC BY-SA 3.0Hazard risk in Chase is higher than in 98% of Canadian towns
With 0.57% of the land around it burning each year, Chase sits in the high wildfire band (23% within 25 km since 1986). 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. Chase’s survey area, 6.4% over the radon guideline, is close to the typical town’s 6.6%. Chase grades D− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Chase’s hazards
For Chase, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Chase faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Chase: D−
Two inputs always count for Chase, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #250 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,575 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
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.
A high wildfire band for Chase: 6.8% within 5 km, 23% within 25 km
Past fire around Chase’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
At 0.57% of the land a year, Chase’s burn rate is high, many times the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
Forest fuel is spread evenly around Chase: 65% within 5 km, 64% 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
In the top quarter in British Columbia: Chase ranks 5th of 255 at 0.57% a year, with Oliver first at 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.
Chase is one of the few of Canada’s 2,610 towns in the high band (1.9%); 0.2% rank very high.
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.
Flooding around Chase is mapped in 3 studies, the newest by Province of B.C. - Water, Lands, and Resource Stewardship
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Chase: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The newest of 3 studies covering Chase is Province of B.C. - Water, Lands, and Resource Stewardship’s, from 2025; open its map to see the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shuswap Region Floodplain Maps | Province of B.C. - Water, Lands, and Resource Stewardship | 2025 | final |
| Thompson River Watershed Base Level Flood Hazard Mapping | Fraser Basin Council | 2020 | final |
| South Thompson River (Kamloops to Chase) Floodplain Mapping | Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy | 1976 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in British Columbia reaches 76% of towns, Chase included, beside 58% across Canada.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The 2020s brought the most flood studies for Chase (2 of 3), the first dating from the 1970s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Chase.
Flood studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for Chase.
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.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Chase just $0.008 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
0.3 times the typical $0.030: Chase’s $0.008 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in British Columbia peaks in Duncan ($1.33); Chase, 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.
Toward the quiet end of Canada’s range: 87% of its 2,611 towns sit above Chase.
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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Chase is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Some radon around Chase: 6.4% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the Thompson/Cariboo health region
Chase’s area, at 6.4%, is close to the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Chase’s area, at 6.4%, is above the median in British Columbia (1.8%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
26% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Chase’s 5–10% band, which holds 37%.
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 Chase, 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).
Where to get warnings in Chase
Alerts for Chase 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 Chase to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Chase’s neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chase | High | $0.008 | 6.4% | Yes |
| Sun Peaks Mountain 1,546 · 16 km | High | $0.008 | 6.4% | None listed |
Among its neighbours Chase has the most fire on record (high); Sun Peaks Mountain follows (high).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Chase faces
What to do about the hazards Chase 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
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Chase without grading them.
- 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 Chase until then.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Chase’s included.
- Wildfire counts one way. Burned land within 25 km of where people live, averaged over 1986–2025 and checked for fuel near homes, is the measure; it looks back, not ahead, and only ever counts against Chase.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Chase
Is radon a problem in Chase?
Around Chase, 109 survey homes were tested and 6.4% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How is Chase’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Chase’s Hazard risk grade is D−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is Chase at risk of wildfire?
More than most Canadian towns; Chase’s high band rests on 23% of nearby land burned since 1986 (most recently 2025).
How big is the earthquake risk in Chase?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Chase’s buildings lose $0.008 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Does Chase flood?
A flood study covers Chase on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
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).