Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainHazard risk in Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen is higher than in 98% of Canadian towns
Fire is a regular visitor: 22% of the land within 25 km of Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen has burned since 1986 (0.56% a year). Earthquake risk in Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen is ordinary: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.017 a year per $1,000 of value, close to the typical town’s $0.030. In Health Canada’s survey, 17% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen grades D− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Electoral Area I, 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 I, Okanagan-Similkameen: D−
The grade weighs Electoral Area I, 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. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Fire country: 22% of the land within 25 km of Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen has burned since 1986, 22% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The yearly burn rate around Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen is 0.56%, against 0.000% for the typical Canadian town: the high band.
Forest fuel covers 26% of the land close to Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen and 51% 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
Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen ranks 6th of the 256 towns in British Columbia for burn rate, at 0.56% a year; Oliver leads with 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.
Just 1.9% of Canada’s 2,610 towns burn fast enough for the high band where Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen sits; 0.2% burn faster.
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 I, Okanagan-Similkameen is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Okanagan Basin Water Board
Flood studies whose area touches Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
The flood study touching Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen is Okanagan Basin Water Board’s, dated 2020; its own map shows the zones street by street.
| 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%; Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen has one too.
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 Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen.
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.
Expected shaking damage in Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen: $0.017 a year per $1,000
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
At $0.017 per $1,000, Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen’s earthquake risk is about the typical Canadian town’s ($0.030; 0.6 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Below the middle in British Columbia: Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen’s $0.017 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.
70% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Electoral Area I, 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).
The loss is to Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen’s buildings alone, from ground shaking; infrastructure and secondary hazards are left out.
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 I, Okanagan-Similkameen: 17% of area homes were over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Shared with the rest of the Okanagan health region: radon tests
At 17% over the guideline, the area around Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen beats the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
More homes top the guideline around Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen (17%) than in the typical town in British Columbia (1.8%); 2.8% went over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
More high tests than most: Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen sits in a band that only 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns share, with 4.6% 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.
A survey sample isn’t a map: any home in Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen can be high, and a three-month test is the only way to know.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen; 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 Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen | High | $0.017 | 17% | Yes |
| Okanagan Falls 4,002 · 3.1 km | High | $0.017 | 17% | Yes |
| Penticton 1 2,147 · 10 km | High | $0.014 | 17% | Yes |
| Penticton 39,068 · 11 km | High | $0.025 | 17% | Yes |
| Electoral Area F, Okanagan-Similkameen 2,149 · 18 km | High | $0.019 | 17% | Yes |
| Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen 4,103 · 19 km | High | $0.021 | 17% | Yes |
The fire record around Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen is a touch heavier than Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen’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 Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen faces
What to do about the hazards Electoral Area I, 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
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen
Is Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen at risk of wildfire?
Yes, by Canadian standards: Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen’s band is high, with 22% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2025), so wildfire counts against its Risk grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen?
About $0.017 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen.
Is radon a problem in Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen?
In Health Canada’s survey, 17% of 109 homes tested in Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Does Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen flood?
There is flood mapping for Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
How is Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Electoral Area I, 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).