Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainElectoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen faces more hazards than almost every Canadian town
Fire is a regular visitor: 34% of the land within 25 km of Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen has burned since 1986 (0.91% a year). NRCan expects $0.018 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen, near the typical $0.030. Radon is higher than usual: 17% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen grades D− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen’s hazards
For Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen: D−
The grade weighs Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
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.
Fire country: 34% of the land within 25 km of Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen has burned since 1986, 46% within 5 km
Past fire around Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
At 0.91% of the land a year, Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen’s burn rate is high, many times the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
Forest fuel covers 10% of the land close to Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen and 36% 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
The land around Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen burns at 0.91% a year, the 3rd 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.
High is rare: 1.9% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen 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.
Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Okanagan Basin Water Board
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
For Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen the inventory points to Okanagan Basin Water Board’s 2020 study, whose map is the one to check.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Okanagan Mainstem Floodplain Mapping Project | Okanagan Basin Water Board | 2020 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen 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.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen floods.
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.
Ordinary seismic risk in Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen: $0.018 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
0.6 times the typical $0.030: Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen’s $0.018 is ordinary.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen’s $0.018 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.
Most of Canada’s 2,611 towns (68%) face more earthquake damage than Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen.
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).
For Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
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 Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen: 17% of area homes were over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the Okanagan health region
A higher share than most: 17% of tested homes around Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen, 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.
4.6% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen, in the 10–20% band with 22%.
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 Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen, 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 Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen
Alerts for Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen 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. |
Fire danger and active fires near Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen are mapped daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System; evacuation orders come from the municipality or province.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
Osoyoos burns a little more than Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen, in the same high band (high here).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen faces
What to do about the hazards Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen 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. For Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- 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 Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen
Does Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
Is Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen at risk of wildfire?
Yes, by Canadian standards: Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen’s band is high, with 34% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2025), so wildfire counts against its Risk grade.
Is radon a problem in Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen?
In Health Canada’s survey, 17% of 109 homes tested in Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How big is the earthquake risk in Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen’s buildings lose $0.018 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
How is Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen grades D− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers 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).