Photo: Shane Smith · CC BY-SA 3.019% of homes tested in Radium Hot Springs’ area are above the radon guideline
Fire reaches the land around Radium Hot Springs now and then: 5.3% within 25 km since 1986 (0.13% a year), below the high band. Earthquake risk in Radium Hot Springs is ordinary: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.037 a year per $1,000 of value, close to the typical town’s $0.030. Hazard risk gives Radium Hot Springs a grade of C−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Radium Hot Springs’s hazards
For Radium Hot Springs, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Radium Hot Springs faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Radium Hot Springs: C−
Seismic risk and radon set Radium Hot Springs’ grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of it.
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.
A moderate wildfire record for Radium Hot Springs: 5.3% within 25 km burned, 0.9% within 5 km
Past fire around Radium Hot Springs’ homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Radium Hot Springs is 0.13%, above 0.000% for the typical Canadian town but under the high band.
About as much forest grows next to Radium Hot Springs’ homes (61% within 5 km) as across 25 km (66%).
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; Radium Hot Springs, at 0.13%, ranks 47th 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.
Radium Hot Springs is in the moderate band, which holds 5.4% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 2.1% 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.
Radium Hot Springs is on the flood map inventory: 2 studies, latest by Province of B.C. - Water, Lands, and Resource Stewardship
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Radium Hot Springs: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
2 studies on the inventory touch Radium Hot Springs, the newest Province of B.C. - Water, Lands, and Resource Stewardship’s from 2026, and their areas can be large, so they say maps exist, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Floodplain Mapping Report: Columbia River (Columbia Lake to Donald) | Province of B.C. - Water, Lands, and Resource Stewardship | 2026 | final |
| Columbia River: Windermere Lake - Radium Floodplain Mapping | Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy | 1982 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study puts Radium Hot Springs 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.
Flood mapping around Radium Hot Springs has come in steps: 2 studies from the 1980s to the 2020s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Radium Hot Springs.
Flood studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for Radium Hot Springs.
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 Radium Hot Springs $0.037 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Nothing unusual about Radium Hot Springs’ ground: $0.037 against a typical $0.030, 1.2 times.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in British Columbia peaks in Duncan ($1.33); Radium Hot Springs, at $0.037, 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.
Around half of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Radium Hot Springs (45%).
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 Radium Hot Springs.
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 Radium Hot Springs: 19% of area homes were over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
the typical Canadian town has 6.6% over the guideline; Radium Hot Springs’ area has 19%. Figures for radon tests are published for the East Kootenay health region as a whole, not for Radium Hot Springs alone.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Radium Hot Springs, 19% of tests were over 200 Bq/m³ and 2.9% 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 Radium Hot Springs, 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.
Neighbouring homes in Radium Hot Springs 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).
Where to get warnings in Radium Hot Springs
Alerts for Radium Hot Springs 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 Radium Hot Springs to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Radium Hot Springs
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Radium Hot Springs | Moderate | $0.037 | 19% | Yes |
| Electoral Area G, East Kootenay 1,952 · 9.2 km | Moderate | $0.033 | 19% | Yes |
| Invermere 4,305 · 14 km | Moderate | $0.046 | 19% | Yes |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Radium Hot Springs (moderate); Invermere comes closest (moderate).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Radium Hot Springs faces
Practical steps for Radium Hot Springs’ 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 Radium Hot Springs.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Radium Hot Springs takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- 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 Radium Hot Springs.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Radium Hot Springs’ included.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Radium Hot Springs
Does Radium Hot Springs flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Radium Hot Springs; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
Is radon a problem in Radium Hot Springs?
19% of the 105 homes Health Canada tested around Radium Hot Springs topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
How big is the earthquake risk in Radium Hot Springs?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Radium Hot Springs’ buildings lose $0.037 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is Radium Hot Springs at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Radium Hot Springs’ band is moderate, with 5.3% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2024), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
How is Radium Hot Springs’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Radium Hot Springs’ Hazard risk grade is C−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
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).