Photo: Valentin8107 · CC BY-SA 4.0Hazard risk in Vernon is higher than in 97% of Canadian towns
With 0.40% of the land around it burning each year, Vernon sits in the high wildfire band (16% within 25 km since 1986). Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.014 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. More homes than usual carry radon here, 17% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Vernon grades D− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Vernon’s hazards
For Vernon, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Vernon faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Vernon: D−
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Vernon with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #237 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,558 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
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.
1.5% of the land near Vernon’s homes has burned since 1986, 16% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Vernon’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The yearly burn rate around Vernon is 0.40%, against 0.000% for the typical Canadian town: the high band.
There is forest near Vernon’s homes (25% within 5 km) and more of it further out (56% 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
At 0.40% a year, Vernon is near the top in British Columbia: 18th of 255, behind Oliver (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 Vernon 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 Vernon, from Okanagan Basin Water Board: 1 on the inventory
Flood studies whose area touches Vernon, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Okanagan Basin Water Board holds the flood mapping that covers Vernon (2020), linked below.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Okanagan Mainstem Floodplain Mapping Project | Okanagan Basin Water Board | 2020 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Vernon is one of the 76% of towns in British Columbia with a flood study on file; across Canada it is 58%.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping is shown for Vernon to be opened and checked, never turned into a grade.
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 Vernon just $0.014 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.
0.5 times the typical $0.030: Vernon’s $0.014 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.014, Vernon is below the typical town in British Columbia ($0.36); Duncan is highest at $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 Vernon than in 73% 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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Vernon is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
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 Vernon: 17% of tested homes over the 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
A higher share than most: 17% of tested homes around Vernon, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs higher around Vernon 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.
The 10–20% band holds 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, Vernon 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.
Health Canada advises testing every home, Vernon’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Vernon
Alerts for Vernon 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 Vernon to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Vernon’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vernon | High | $0.014 | 17% | Yes |
| Electoral Area C, North Okanagan 5,029 · 5.2 km | Moderate | $0.010 | 17% | None listed |
| Electoral Area B, North Okanagan 3,415 · 5.6 km | High | $0.012 | 17% | Yes |
| Coldstream 11,380 · 5.7 km | High | $0.013 | 17% | Yes |
| Okanagan (Part) 1 3,482 · 9.1 km | High | $0.011 | 17% | Yes |
| Spallumcheen 5,843 · 17 km | Moderate | $0.016 | 17% | Yes |
The fire record around Okanagan (Part) 1 is a touch heavier than Vernon’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 Vernon faces
What to do about the hazards Vernon faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- 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. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Vernon’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Wildfire counts one way. For Vernon, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Vernon without grading them.
- 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 Vernon until then.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Vernon
Is radon a problem in Vernon?
Around Vernon, 109 survey homes were tested and 17% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How is Vernon’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Vernon’s Hazard risk grade is D−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is Vernon at risk of wildfire?
More than most Canadian towns; Vernon’s high band rests on 16% of nearby land burned since 1986 (most recently 2025).
How big is the earthquake risk in Vernon?
Expected earthquake damage in Vernon comes to $0.014 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Does Vernon flood?
A flood study covers Vernon on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
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).