Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0Around Kimberley, 19% of tested homes have radon above the guideline
Wildfire is a moderate presence around Kimberley: 4.1% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, 0.11% a year, short of the band that counts against Risk. Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.013 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Kimberley grades C+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Kimberley’s hazards
For Kimberley, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Kimberley faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Kimberley: C+
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Kimberley with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #197 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,827 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Some fire around Kimberley: 4.1% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.1% within 5 km
Past fire around Kimberley’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Kimberley is 0.11%, above 0.000% for the typical Canadian town but under the high band.
Forest thickens with distance from Kimberley: 47% of the land within 5 km, 53% 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
The land around Kimberley burns at 0.11% a year, the 53rd highest rate of 255 towns in British Columbia; Oliver tops it 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.
Kimberley 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 Kimberley
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Kimberley: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
An empty entry for Kimberley on the inventory isn’t proof of safety; ask locally for flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are common in British Columbia, 76% of towns against 58% nationally, but none in the inventory touches Kimberley.
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 Kimberley.
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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Kimberley just $0.013 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
0.4 times the typical $0.030: Kimberley’s $0.013 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in British Columbia expects $0.36 a year in shaking damage; Kimberley expects less, $0.013, 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.
Toward the quiet end of Canada’s range: 75% of its 2,611 towns sit above Kimberley.
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 Kimberley 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).
19% of homes tested around Kimberley are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Kimberley’s area, at 19%, is above the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town, so testing is worth more here than most places. Figures for radon tests are published for the East Kootenay health region as a whole, not for Kimberley alone.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
More homes top the guideline around Kimberley (19%) than in the typical town in British Columbia (1.8%); 2.9% went over 600.
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 Kimberley, 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.
Radon varies from house to house in Kimberley, 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 Kimberley
Alerts for Kimberley 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. |
Evacuation orders for Kimberley come from the municipality or the province, while CWFIS maps fire danger every day.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what Kimberley faces
What to do about the hazards Kimberley 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. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Kimberley’s included.
- 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 Kimberley.
- 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 Kimberley.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Kimberley takes its 2007 health region’s share.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Kimberley
How big is the earthquake risk in Kimberley?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Kimberley $0.013 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is radon a problem in Kimberley?
Around Kimberley, 105 survey homes were tested and 19% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How is Kimberley’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Kimberley C+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is Kimberley at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 4.1% of the land around Kimberley since 1986 (last in 2024); at moderate, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Does Kimberley flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Kimberley’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
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).