Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainShaking costs buildings in Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley $0.41 a year per $1,000 of value, 14 times the typical town’s
Wildfire isn’t Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley’s worry: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (0.000% a year). In Health Canada’s survey, just 0.9% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley grades B− for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley grades B− for hazard risk
The grade weighs Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
Its place: #113 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,623 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
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.
Few fires near Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Around Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley fire takes 0.000% of the land in a typical year, the typical Canadian town 0.000%, which is low.
Nothing inside 5 km of Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley’s homes has burned since 1986, and the nearest scar is 12 km off.
Forest fuel covers 28% of the land close to Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley and 66% 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 255
Among the 255 towns in British Columbia, Oliver burns fastest (0.98% a year); Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley is with the 7 near zero.
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.
Measured against 2,610 towns, Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley is in the largest group, low (92%), and at its floor, while 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.
A flood study covers Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley, from Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy: 1 on the inventory
Flood studies whose area touches Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
The flood study touching Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley is Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy’s, dated 1991; its own map shows the zones street by street.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Courtenay, Puntledge and Tsolum River Floodplain Mapping | Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy | 1991 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley is one of the 76% of towns in British Columbia with a flood study on file; across Canada it is 58%.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Nothing here counts toward Risk; the studies are pointers to the maps their owners keep for Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley.
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 Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley $0.41 per $1,000 a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
At $0.41 per $1,000, Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley carries roughly 13.6 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The median in British Columbia is $0.36; Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley, at $0.41, is right beside it, and Duncan tops the list 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.
Few of Canada’s 2,611 towns face more earthquake damage than Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley: 4.3% of them.
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 loss is to Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley’s buildings alone, from ground shaking; infrastructure and secondary hazards are left out.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon runs low around Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley: 0.9% of tested homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
A lower share than most: 0.9% of tested homes around Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The median in British Columbia is 1.8% over 200 Bq/m³; around Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley it is 0.9%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley is in the lowest band, with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns: under 5% of tests over the guideline, while 63% have more.
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 Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley; it can’t tell you your basement’s level.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests published for the North Vancouver Island health region, not by town
Weather and fire alerts for Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley; Alert Ready carries the urgent ones to phones, radio and TV.
| 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. |
For fires near Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley, the national fire information system maps danger and active fires daily; local authorities give any evacuation order.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley | Low | $0.41 | 0.9% | Yes |
| Comox 15,884 · 4.6 km | Low | $0.49 | 0.9% | Yes |
| Courtenay 32,869 · 5.5 km | Low | $0.39 | 0.9% | Yes |
| Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley 9,803 · 13 km | Low | $0.38 | 0.9% | Yes |
| Cumberland 4,974 · 14 km | Low | $0.41 | 0.9% | None listed |
| Electoral Area A, Comox Valley 8,415 · 17 km | Low | $0.37 | 0.9% | None listed |
Electoral Area A, Comox Valley burns a little more than Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley, 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 B (Lazo North), Comox Valley faces
What to do about the hazards Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- 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.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap the water heater down.
- Keep 72 hours of supplies.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
- Is earthquake cover included?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley’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. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley.
- 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 (Lazo North), Comox Valley’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley
Is Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley has burned since 1986, the last in 2025, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How big is the earthquake risk in Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley?
Expected earthquake damage in Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley comes to $0.41 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is radon a problem in Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley?
In Health Canada’s survey, 0.9% of 106 homes tested in Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How is Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley B−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley flood?
There is flood mapping for Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them 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).