Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainOn hazards, Okanagan (Part) 1 comes out behind 97% of Canadian towns
Fire is a regular visitor: 19% of the land within 25 km of Okanagan (Part) 1 has burned since 1986 (0.47% a year). Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.011 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. In Health Canada’s survey, 17% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Okanagan (Part) 1 a grade of D−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Okanagan (Part) 1’s hazards
For Okanagan (Part) 1, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Okanagan (Part) 1 faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Okanagan (Part) 1 grades D− for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Okanagan (Part) 1, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
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.
30% of the land near Okanagan (Part) 1’s homes has burned since 1986, 19% within 25 km
Past fire around Okanagan (Part) 1’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
High: the land around Okanagan (Part) 1 burns at 0.47% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Forest fuel covers 30% of the land close to Okanagan (Part) 1 and 55% 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
Oliver burns fastest in British Columbia at 0.98% a year; Okanagan (Part) 1, at 0.47%, ranks 12th of 256.
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.
High is rare: 1.9% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, Okanagan (Part) 1 among them, with 0.2% higher still.
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 Okanagan (Part) 1, from Okanagan Basin Water Board: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Okanagan (Part) 1: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Okanagan Basin Water Board holds the flood mapping that covers Okanagan (Part) 1 (2020), linked below.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Okanagan Mainstem Floodplain Mapping Project | Okanagan Basin Water Board | 2020 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
76% of towns in British Columbia have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Okanagan (Part) 1 has one too.
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 Okanagan (Part) 1.
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 Okanagan (Part) 1: $0.011 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
0.4 times the typical $0.030: Okanagan (Part) 1’s $0.011 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Below the middle in British Columbia: Okanagan (Part) 1’s $0.011 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 Okanagan (Part) 1 than in 85% 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 Okanagan (Part) 1.
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 Okanagan (Part) 1: 17% of area homes were over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
At 17% over the guideline, the area around Okanagan (Part) 1 beats the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Okanagan (Part) 1, 17% of tests were over 200 Bq/m³ and 2.8% over 600, against a median of 1.8% in British Columbia.
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, Okanagan (Part) 1 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.
Neighbouring homes in Okanagan (Part) 1 can differ a lot; only a long-term test tells you about yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Data for radon tests covers the Okanagan health region
Where to get warnings in Okanagan (Part) 1
Alerts for Okanagan (Part) 1 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 Okanagan (Part) 1 to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Okanagan (Part) 1’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Okanagan (Part) 1 | High | $0.011 | 17% | Yes |
| Vernon 49,527 · 9.1 km | High | $0.014 | 17% | Yes |
| Electoral Area B, North Okanagan 3,415 · 11 km | High | $0.012 | 17% | Yes |
| Electoral Area C, North Okanagan 5,029 · 13 km | Moderate | $0.010 | 17% | None listed |
| Coldstream 11,380 · 15 km | High | $0.013 | 17% | Yes |
| Central Okanagan West 3,298 · 19 km | High | $0.014 | 17% | Yes |
| Spallumcheen 5,843 · 19 km | Moderate | $0.016 | 17% | Yes |
The fire record around Central Okanagan West is a touch heavier than Okanagan (Part) 1’s, but the band is the same: high (here high).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Okanagan (Part) 1 faces
What to do about the hazards Okanagan (Part) 1 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 Okanagan (Part) 1.
- 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 Okanagan (Part) 1.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Okanagan (Part) 1’s included.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Okanagan (Part) 1 takes its 2007 health region’s share.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Okanagan (Part) 1
Is radon a problem in Okanagan (Part) 1?
Around Okanagan (Part) 1, 109 survey homes were tested and 17% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Is Okanagan (Part) 1 at risk of wildfire?
More than most Canadian towns; Okanagan (Part) 1’s high band rests on 19% of nearby land burned since 1986 (most recently 2025).
How is Okanagan (Part) 1’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Okanagan (Part) 1’s Hazard risk grade is D−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
How big is the earthquake risk in Okanagan (Part) 1?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Okanagan (Part) 1 $0.011 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Does Okanagan (Part) 1 flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Okanagan (Part) 1; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
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).