Photo: Kevstan · CC BY-SA 3.0Radon is Nakusp’s main hazard: 29% of tested homes in its area top Health Canada’s guideline
Wildfire is a moderate presence around Nakusp: 3.6% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, 0.09% a year, short of the band that counts against Risk. Seismic risk runs low: $0.010 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Hazard risk gives Nakusp a grade of C+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Nakusp’s hazards
For Nakusp, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Nakusp faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Nakusp grades C+ for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Nakusp, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
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.
Some fire around Nakusp: 3.6% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Nakusp’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
At 0.09% of the land a year, Nakusp’s burn rate is moderate; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
No fire has burned within 5 km of Nakusp’s homes since 1986; the nearest burn is 5.3 km away.
Forest fuel is spread evenly around Nakusp: 76% within 5 km, 79% 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
The land around Nakusp burns at 0.09% a year, the 56th highest rate of 256 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.
Nakusp 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.
Nakusp is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Nakusp: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
A 1998 study by Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy covers Nakusp, and its map, not the inventory, shows the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arrow Reservoir and Kuskanax Creek Floodplain Mapping | Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy | 1998 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in British Columbia reaches 76% of towns, Nakusp 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 grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Nakusp’s homes are at risk.
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 Nakusp just $0.010 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Nakusp’s $0.010 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.3 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Nakusp’s $0.010 sits under the median in British Columbia, $0.36, and well under Duncan’s $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.
Nakusp is in the lower part of Canada’s range for earthquake risk; 86% of the 2,611 towns are higher.
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 Nakusp 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).
Test for radon in Nakusp: 29% of area homes were over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the Kootenay/Boundary health region: radon tests
Nakusp’s area, at 29%, 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 Nakusp (29%) than in the typical town in British Columbia (1.8%); 7.3% went over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
One home in five or more tests over the guideline around Nakusp; 3.1% of Canada’s 2,611 towns are in that band and 1.5% 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.
A low area share in Nakusp doesn’t clear a house, nor does a high one condemn it: test.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Nakusp
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Nakusp; 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for Nakusp come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Nakusp’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nakusp | Moderate | $0.010 | 29% | Yes |
| Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay 1,965 · 11 km | Moderate | $0.010 | 29% | Yes |
The fire record around Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay is a touch heavier than Nakusp’s, but the band is the same: moderate (here moderate).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Nakusp faces
What to do about the hazards Nakusp 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
- 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 Nakusp.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Nakusp’s included.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. A study’s area can be a whole watershed or province, so being on the inventory says a map exists, not that a home in Nakusp floods.
- Radon is a survey. The radon share comes from about 14,000 long-term home tests in 2009–2011, pooled for now by the 2007 health region Nakusp sits in.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Nakusp
How is Nakusp’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Nakusp’s Hazard risk grade is C+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Does Nakusp flood?
Nakusp’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
How big is the earthquake risk in Nakusp?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Nakusp’s buildings lose $0.010 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in Nakusp?
In Health Canada’s survey, 29% of 109 homes tested in Nakusp’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Is Nakusp at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 3.6% of the land within 25 km of Nakusp has burned since 1986, the last in 2025, a moderate band that leaves Risk alone.
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).