Photo: Asahel Curtis · Public domainA flood study covers Quesnel: 3 on the national inventory, the newest from Fraser Basin Council
Wildfire is rare near Quesnel: 1.3% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.03% a year. Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.010 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). More homes than usual carry radon here, 12% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Quesnel a grade of B+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Quesnel’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Quesnel: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Quesnel faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Quesnel: B+
Seismic risk and radon set Quesnel’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of it.
Its place: #20 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,377 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
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.
Few fires near Quesnel: 0.1% within 5 km, 1.3% within 25 km
Past fire around Quesnel’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low by Canadian standards: 0.03% of the land a year around Quesnel, 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
There is forest near Quesnel’s homes (35% within 5 km) and more of it further out (72% 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 255
In the upper half in British Columbia but far from Oliver (0.98%): Quesnel ranks 81st of 255, at 0.03% a year.
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.
Some fire is mapped around Quesnel, but not enough to leave the low band, where 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are; 7.5% 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.
3 flood studies cover Quesnel, the newest from Fraser Basin Council
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Quesnel: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
For Quesnel the inventory points to 3 studies, most recently Fraser Basin Council’s in 2021.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cariboo Regional District Flood Hazard Assessment | Fraser Basin Council | 2021 | final |
| City of Quesnel Flood Hazard and Floodplain Mapping | City of Quesnel | 2020 | final |
| Fraser and Quesnel Rivers at Quesnel Floodplain Mapping (including Baker Creek) | Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy | 1992 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are common in British Columbia: 76% of towns have one, against 58% nationally, and Quesnel is among them.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Mapping around Quesnel goes back to the 1990s and peaks in the 2020s, with 2 of its 3 studies.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Quesnel.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Quesnel’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 Quesnel just $0.010 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.010 per $1,000, Quesnel carries 0.3 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030): low.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in British Columbia peaks in Duncan ($1.33); Quesnel, at $0.010, is below the median of $0.36.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
86% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Quesnel.
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 Quesnel’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).
Radon runs high around Quesnel: 12% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
At 12% over the guideline, the area around Quesnel beats the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Figures for radon tests are published for the Northern Interior health region as a whole, not for Quesnel alone.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs higher around Quesnel than in most towns in British Columbia: 12% over the guideline (1.8% is typical), 1.9% over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Quesnel is in the 10–20% band, with 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; only 4.6% are 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.
Basements, soil and how a house is sealed decide its radon, so in Quesnel only a test can say.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Quesnel
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Quesnel; 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 Quesnel, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Quesnel’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quesnel | Low | $0.010 | 12% | Yes |
| Electoral Area A, Cariboo 6,172 · 5.5 km | Low | $0.010 | 12% | Yes |
| Electoral Area I, Cariboo 1,707 · 10 km | Moderate | $0.012 | 12% | Yes |
| Electoral Area C, Cariboo 1,289 · 11 km | Low | $0.008 | 12% | Yes |
| Electoral Area B, Cariboo 4,169 · 11 km | Low | $0.010 | 12% | Yes |
Fire is heaviest around Electoral Area I, Cariboo (moderate), against low for Quesnel.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Quesnel faces
Practical steps for Quesnel’s hazards, most pressing first.
- 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.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Quesnel’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- 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 Quesnel.
- 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 Quesnel’s.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Quesnel is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Quesnel
Is Quesnel at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Quesnel’s band is low, with 1.3% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2023), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Quesnel?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Quesnel’s buildings lose $0.010 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Does Quesnel flood?
There is flood mapping for Quesnel on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
Is radon a problem in Quesnel?
12% of the 208 homes Health Canada tested around Quesnel topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
How is Quesnel’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Quesnel grades B+ 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).