Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainHazard risk in Penticton 1 is higher than in 97% of Canadian towns
Wildfire is a real hazard for Penticton 1: 18% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, 0.46% a year, in the high band. Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.014 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). More homes than usual carry radon here, 17% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Penticton 1 a grade of D−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Penticton 1’s hazards
For Penticton 1, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Penticton 1 faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Penticton 1 grades D− for hazard risk
Seismic risk and radon set Penticton 1’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of it.
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.
Fire country: 18% of the land within 25 km of Penticton 1 has burned since 1986, 19% within 5 km
Past fire around Penticton 1’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Penticton 1 is 0.46%, against 0.000% for the typical Canadian town: the high band.
The nearer ring around Penticton 1 is less wooded (28% forest fuel) than the land out to 25 km (57%).
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; Penticton 1, at 0.46%, 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.
Just 1.9% of Canada’s 2,610 towns burn fast enough for the high band where Penticton 1 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.
A flood study covers Penticton 1, from Okanagan Basin Water Board: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Penticton 1: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
One study on the inventory touches Penticton 1, Okanagan Basin Water Board’s from 2020, and its area can be large, so it says a map exists, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Okanagan Mainstem Floodplain Mapping Project | Okanagan Basin Water Board | 2020 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study puts Penticton 1 with 76% of towns in British Columbia; Canada’s share is 58%.
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 Penticton 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.
Little shaking expected in Penticton 1: $0.014 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.014 per $1,000, Penticton 1 carries 0.5 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030): low.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in British Columbia expects $0.36 a year in shaking damage; Penticton 1 expects less, $0.014, 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: 73% of its 2,611 towns sit above Penticton 1.
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 Penticton 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 Penticton 1: 17% of area homes were over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · The radon tests numbers here cover the Okanagan health region
Penticton 1’s survey area reads 17% over the guideline, well past the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Penticton 1’s area, at 17%, is above the median in British Columbia (1.8%), and 2.8% of its tests passed 600 Bq/m³.
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, Penticton 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.
A low area share in Penticton 1 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 Penticton 1
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Penticton 1; 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 Penticton 1, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Penticton 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penticton 1 | High | $0.014 | 17% | Yes |
| Penticton 39,068 · 4.4 km | High | $0.025 | 17% | Yes |
| Electoral Area F, Okanagan-Similkameen 2,149 · 8.5 km | High | $0.019 | 17% | Yes |
| Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen 2,372 · 10 km | High | $0.017 | 17% | Yes |
| Okanagan Falls 4,002 · 13 km | High | $0.017 | 17% | Yes |
| Naramata 2,077 · 14 km | High | $0.012 | 17% | Yes |
| Summerland 12,343 · 15 km | High | $0.018 | 17% | Yes |
Electoral Area I, Okanagan-Similkameen burns a little more than Penticton 1, 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 Penticton 1 faces
Practical steps for Penticton 1’s hazards, most pressing first.
- 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 Penticton 1.
- 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 Penticton 1 sits in.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Penticton 1’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 Penticton 1 floods.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Penticton 1
Is radon a problem in Penticton 1?
17% of the 109 homes Health Canada tested around Penticton 1 topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
Does Penticton 1 flood?
Penticton 1’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 Penticton 1?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Penticton 1’s buildings lose $0.014 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
How is Penticton 1’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Penticton 1 grades D− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is Penticton 1 at risk of wildfire?
It is: 18% of the land within 25 km of Penticton 1 has burned since 1986, the latest in 2025, which puts it in the high band that lowers Risk.
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).