Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domain17% of homes tested in Spallumcheen’s area are above the radon guideline
Fire reaches the land around Spallumcheen now and then: 8.7% within 25 km since 1986 (0.22% a year), below the high band. Shaking is about as much of a worry in Spallumcheen as in most places, at $0.016 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Spallumcheen grades C+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Spallumcheen’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Spallumcheen: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Spallumcheen faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Spallumcheen grades C+ for hazard risk
Earthquake risk and radon make Spallumcheen’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
Its place: #212 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,866 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.
A moderate wildfire record for Spallumcheen: 8.7% within 25 km burned, 1.6% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Spallumcheen’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
At 0.22% of the land a year, Spallumcheen’s burn rate is moderate; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
There is forest near Spallumcheen’s homes (44% within 5 km) and more of it further out (62% 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
Oliver burns fastest in British Columbia at 0.98% a year; Spallumcheen, at 0.22%, ranks 32nd of 255.
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.
Spallumcheen 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.
Flooding around Spallumcheen is mapped in 3 studies, the newest by Province of B.C. - Water, Lands, and Resource Stewardship
Flood studies whose area touches Spallumcheen, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
3 studies on the inventory touch Spallumcheen, the newest Province of B.C. - Water, Lands, and Resource Stewardship’s from 2025, and their areas can be large, so they say maps exist, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shuswap Region Floodplain Maps | Province of B.C. - Water, Lands, and Resource Stewardship | 2025 | final |
| City of Armstrong Flood Mapping and Risk Assessment Report | City of Armstrong | 2019 | final |
| Shuswap River (Mara Lake to Mable Lake) Floodplain Mapping | Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy | 1980 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
76% of towns in British Columbia have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Spallumcheen has one too.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The 3 studies touching Spallumcheen are spread over time, from the 1980s to the 2020s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Spallumcheen.
Flood studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for Spallumcheen.
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 Spallumcheen $0.016 per $1,000 a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
At $0.016 per $1,000, Spallumcheen’s earthquake risk is about the typical Canadian town’s ($0.030; 0.5 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Below the middle in British Columbia: Spallumcheen’s $0.016 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.
Earthquakes cost less around Spallumcheen than in 71% of Canada’s 2,611 towns.
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 model counts damage to Spallumcheen’s buildings and their occupants from shaking only: not liquefaction, landslides, tsunami or fires after a quake.
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 Spallumcheen: 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. · The radon tests numbers here cover the Okanagan health region
the typical Canadian town has 6.6% over the guideline; Spallumcheen’s area has 17%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Spallumcheen’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.
4.6% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Spallumcheen, 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.
One home in Spallumcheen can be high while next door is low; a three-month test settles it.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Spallumcheen
Alerts for Spallumcheen 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 Spallumcheen 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 Spallumcheen
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spallumcheen | Moderate | $0.016 | 17% | Yes |
| Armstrong 5,643 · 3.5 km | Moderate | $0.020 | 17% | Yes |
| Electoral Area B, North Okanagan 3,415 · 12 km | High | $0.012 | 17% | Yes |
| Electoral Area C, North Okanagan 5,029 · 14 km | Moderate | $0.010 | 17% | None listed |
| Electoral Area D, Columbia-Shuswap 4,829 · 16 km | High | $0.010 | 6.4% | Yes |
| Enderby 3,292 · 17 km | Moderate | $0.017 | 17% | Yes |
| Vernon 49,527 · 17 km | High | $0.014 | 17% | Yes |
Fire is heaviest around Electoral Area B, North Okanagan (high), against moderate for Spallumcheen.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Spallumcheen faces
Practical steps for Spallumcheen’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
- 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 Spallumcheen’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Spallumcheen’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. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Spallumcheen 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 Spallumcheen.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Spallumcheen
How is Spallumcheen’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Spallumcheen grades C+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is Spallumcheen at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Spallumcheen’s band is moderate, with 8.7% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2025), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
Is radon a problem in Spallumcheen?
17% of the 109 homes Health Canada tested around Spallumcheen topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
Does Spallumcheen flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Spallumcheen; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Spallumcheen?
Expected earthquake damage in Spallumcheen comes to $0.016 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
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).