Photo: (WT-shared) Bulliver at wts wikivoyage · CC BY-SA 1.0Hazard risk in Summerland is higher than in 97% of Canadian towns
Wildfire is a real hazard for Summerland: 17% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, 0.45% a year, in the high band. Shaking is about as much of a worry in Summerland as in most places, at $0.018 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). In Health Canada’s survey, 17% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Summerland grades D− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Summerland’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Summerland: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Summerland faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Summerland grades D− for hazard risk
Seismic risk and radon set Summerland’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of it.
Its place: #242 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,564 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
2.1% of the land near Summerland’s homes has burned since 1986, 17% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Summerland’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The yearly burn rate around Summerland is 0.45%, against 0.000% for the typical Canadian town: the high band.
Forest fuel covers 31% of the land close to Summerland and 59% 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 255
The land around Summerland burns at 0.45% a year, the 12th highest rate of 255 towns in British Columbia; Oliver tops it at 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 Summerland 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.
Okanagan Basin Water Board has mapped flooding for Summerland (1 study)
Flood studies whose area touches Summerland, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
A 2020 study by Okanagan Basin Water Board covers Summerland, and its map, not the inventory, shows the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Okanagan Mainstem Floodplain Mapping Project | Okanagan Basin Water Board | 2020 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in British Columbia reaches 76% of towns, Summerland included, beside 58% across Canada.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Summerland’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.
Expected shaking damage in Summerland: $0.018 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 $0.018 per $1,000, Summerland’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
The typical town in British Columbia expects $0.36 a year in shaking damage; Summerland expects less, $0.018, 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.
Most of Canada’s 2,611 towns (68%) face more earthquake damage than Summerland.
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 Summerland’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).
17% of homes tested around Summerland are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Measured across the Okanagan health region: radon tests
More homes than usual test high around Summerland: 17% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs higher around Summerland than in most towns in British Columbia: 17% over the guideline (1.8% is typical), 2.8% over 600.
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 Summerland, 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 Summerland 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 Summerland
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Summerland; 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for Summerland come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Summerland
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summerland | High | $0.018 | 17% | Yes |
| Electoral Area F, Okanagan-Similkameen 2,149 · 6.7 km | High | $0.019 | 17% | Yes |
| Naramata 2,077 · 7.5 km | High | $0.012 | 17% | Yes |
| Penticton 1 2,147 · 15 km | High | $0.014 | 17% | Yes |
| Penticton 39,068 · 15 km | High | $0.025 | 17% | Yes |
The fire record around Naramata is a touch heavier than Summerland’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 Summerland faces
Practical steps for Summerland’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
- Radon is a survey. Radon figures pool the survey’s home tests by area: postal areas once their boundaries arrive, the 2007 health region around Summerland until then.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Summerland’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Summerland without grading them.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Summerland’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Summerland
Does Summerland flood?
A flood study covers Summerland on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
How is Summerland’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Summerland grades D− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is radon a problem in Summerland?
The area’s survey found 17% of 109 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Summerland.
Is Summerland at risk of wildfire?
Wildfire is Summerland’s main hazard, band high: 17% of the land within 25 km burned between 1986 and 2025.
How big is the earthquake risk in Summerland?
Expected earthquake damage in Summerland comes to $0.018 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).