Photo: railfan 44 · Public domainA flood study covers Fort St. James: 1 on the national inventory, the newest from Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy
Burn scars are few around Fort St. James, with 0.5% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.01% a year). Seismic risk runs low: $0.006 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. In Health Canada’s survey, 12% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Fort St. James grades B+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Fort St. James’s hazards
For Fort St. James, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Fort St. James faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Fort St. James grades B+ for hazard risk
For Fort St. James, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
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.
Few fires near Fort St. James: 0% within 5 km, 0.5% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Fort St. James’ residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Next to the typical Canadian town (0.000% a year), Fort St. James’ 0.01% is in the low band.
Fort St. James’ homes have had no fire within 5 km since 1986; the closest was 9.9 km away.
Forest fuel covers 62% of the land close to Fort St. James and 75% 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
Fort St. James sits mid-table in British Columbia: 90th of 256 towns, at 0.01% a year, well 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.
Fort St. James is in the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 7.5% sit in moderate or 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.
Fort St. James is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy
Flood studies whose area touches Fort St. James, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
The flood study touching Fort St. James is Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy’s, dated 1991; its own map shows the zones street by street.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stuart River and Lake Floodplain Mapping (including Necoslie River and Nahounli Creek) | Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy | 1991 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Fort St. James 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 Fort St. James.
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.
Low seismic risk in Fort St. James: $0.006 per $1,000 of buildings a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
At $0.006 per $1,000, Fort St. James carries 0.2 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030): low.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Below the middle in British Columbia: Fort St. James’ $0.006 against a median of $0.36; Duncan has $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.
Earthquakes cost less around Fort St. James than in 88% of Canada’s 2,611 towns.
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 Fort St. James.
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 Fort St. James: 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. · Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the Northern Interior health region
More homes than usual test high around Fort St. James: 12% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
More homes top the guideline around Fort St. James (12%) than in the typical town in British Columbia (1.8%); 1.9% 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, Fort St. James 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.
Radon varies from house to house in Fort St. James, 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 Fort St. James
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Fort St. James; 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. |
In fire season, check CWFIS for danger and active fires around Fort St. James, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Fort St. James
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort St. James | Low | $0.006 | 12% | Yes |
| Electoral Area C, Bulkley-Nechako 1,312 · 5.4 km | Moderate | $0.010 | 12% | Yes |
The heaviest fire record nearby is Electoral Area C, Bulkley-Nechako’s, moderate to Fort St. James’ low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Fort St. James faces
Practical steps for Fort St. James’ 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. 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 Fort St. James.
- 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 Fort St. James until then.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Fort St. James’ included.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Fort St. James without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Fort St. James
How is Fort St. James’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Fort St. James’ Hazard risk grade is B+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is Fort St. James at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Fort St. James’ band is low, with 0.5% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2025), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
Does Fort St. James flood?
A flood study covers Fort St. James on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
How big is the earthquake risk in Fort St. James?
Expected earthquake damage in Fort St. James comes to $0.006 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is radon a problem in Fort St. James?
12% of the 208 homes Health Canada tested around Fort St. James topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
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).