Photo: Maclean25 at English Wikipedia · Public domainWildfire moderate, radon 10%: how Chetwynd stands on hazards
Wildfire is a moderate presence around Chetwynd: 2.4% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, 0.07% a year, short of the band that counts against Risk. NRCan expects $0.019 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in Chetwynd, near the typical $0.030. Chetwynd grades B for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Chetwynd’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Chetwynd: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Chetwynd faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Chetwynd: B
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Chetwynd with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
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.
Some fire around Chetwynd: 2.4% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 3.1% within 5 km
Past fire around Chetwynd’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
At 0.07% of the land a year, Chetwynd’s burn rate is moderate; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
There is forest near Chetwynd’s homes (25% within 5 km) and more of it further out (35% 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 256
In the top quarter in British Columbia: Chetwynd ranks 63rd of 256 at 0.07% 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.
Chetwynd 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.
No flood study is listed for Chetwynd
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Chetwynd: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists no study whose area touches Chetwynd, which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped.
Towns with a flood study on file
Chetwynd has no flood study on file, though 76% of towns in British Columbia do (Canada: 58%).
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for Chetwynd.
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.”
Ordinary seismic risk in Chetwynd: $0.019 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
0.6 times the typical $0.030: Chetwynd’s $0.019 is ordinary.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in British Columbia peaks in Duncan ($1.33); Chetwynd, at $0.019, 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: 66% of its 2,611 towns sit above Chetwynd.
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 Chetwynd’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 Chetwynd: 10% of area homes were 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 Northeast health region
Chetwynd’s area, at 10%, is above the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town, so testing is worth more here than most places.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
More homes top the guideline around Chetwynd (10%) than in the typical town in British Columbia (1.8%); 0.5% went over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
The 10–20% band holds 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, Chetwynd among them; 4.6% rank 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.
The survey sampled homes around Chetwynd; it can’t tell you your basement’s level.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Chetwynd
Alerts for Chetwynd 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 Chetwynd to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Chetwynd’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chetwynd | Moderate | $0.019 | 10% | None listed |
| Electoral Area E, Peace River 2,737 · 8.9 km | Low | $0.018 | 10% | Yes |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Chetwynd (moderate); Electoral Area E, Peace River comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Chetwynd faces
What to do about the hazards Chetwynd 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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- 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 Chetwynd’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 Chetwynd.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Chetwynd’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, Chetwynd takes its 2007 health region’s share.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Chetwynd
Is Chetwynd at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 2.4% of the land within 25 km of Chetwynd has burned since 1986, the last in 2025, a moderate band that leaves Risk alone.
Is radon a problem in Chetwynd?
In Health Canada’s survey, 10% of 200 homes tested in Chetwynd’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How big is the earthquake risk in Chetwynd?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Chetwynd $0.019 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Does Chetwynd flood?
Nothing is listed for Chetwynd on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
How is Chetwynd’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Chetwynd B, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
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).