Cariboo, Electoral Area F

Its land, ranked in BC

Shares of the land area, worked out from the Province's maps. Fire perimeters before the 1950s are less complete. A title or a past fire somewhere in the area says nothing about a given lot: a property report checks the parcel itself.

Large fires (1,000 ha or more) since 1990

Since 1990, 15 wildfires of 1,000 ha or more burned in Area F, together 37,600 ha, 4% of its land (ground that burned twice counts once). The most here was the Wildwood wildfire in 2017, 9,335 ha.

1. 2025Suey Bay wildfire2,233 ha in all2,233 ha here
2. 2024Unnamed fire C312916,696 ha in all · 59% of it here3,931 ha here
3. 2024Burgess Creek wildfire1,849 ha in all · 99% of it here1,837 ha here
4. 2024Unnamed fire C307881,565 ha in all1,565 ha here
5. 2024Unnamed fire C311821,379 ha in all · 88% of it here1,208 ha here
6. 2021Unnamed fire C310561,834 ha in all1,834 ha here
7. 2021Unnamed fire C319471,517 ha in all1,517 ha here
8. 2018Unnamed fire C316781,142 ha in all1,142 ha here
9. 2017Wildwood wildfire12,723 ha in all · 73% of it here9,335 ha here
10. 2017Unnamed fire C311694,831 ha in all4,831 ha here

And 5 more

1. 2017Spokin Lake Rd wildfire3,387 ha in all3,387 ha here
2. 2017Unnamed fire C314891,725 ha in all1,725 ha here
3. 2017Unnamed fire C311611,376 ha in all1,376 ha here
4. 2017Unnamed fire C313481,248 ha in all1,248 ha here
5. 2017Unnamed fire C310721,712 ha in all · 25% of it here431 ha here

Smaller mapped fires since 2016

Since 2016, the BC Wildfire Service mapped 98 smaller fires (under 1,000 ha) that reached Area F, newest first. This season's are as mapped by November 9, 2026.

1. 2026Unnamed fire C301234 ha in all4 ha here
2. 2026Unnamed fire C200781.4 ha in all1.4 ha here
3. 2026Unnamed fire C310001.1 ha in all1.1 ha here
4. 2026Unnamed fire C316921.1 ha in all1.1 ha here
5. 2025Bosk Lake wildfire769 ha in all769 ha here
6. 2025Archie Creek wildfire695 ha in all695 ha here
7. 2025Unnamed fire C202274 ha in all4 ha here
8. 2025Unnamed fire C322701.6 ha in all1.6 ha here

And 90 more

1. 2024Unnamed fire C10792198 ha in all · 33% of it here65 ha here
2. 2024Unnamed fire C30799141 ha in all141 ha here
3. 2024Unnamed fire C3082391 ha in all91 ha here
4. 2024Unnamed fire C3147882 ha in all82 ha here
5. 2024Unnamed fire C3137335 ha in all35 ha here
6. 2024Unnamed fire C3159917 ha in all17 ha here
7. 2024Unnamed fire C307797.3 ha in all7.3 ha here
8. 2023Unnamed fire C30399964 ha in all964 ha here
9. 2023Unnamed fire C31143308 ha in all308 ha here
10. 2023Burgess Creek wildfire252 ha in all · 42% of it here106 ha here
11. 2023Unnamed fire C30446242 ha in all242 ha here
12. 2023Unnamed fire C31349240 ha in all240 ha here
13. 2023Elbow Lake wildfire225 ha in all225 ha here
14. 2023Unnamed fire C3226653 ha in all53 ha here
15. 2023Unnamed fire C3144239 ha in all39 ha here
16. 2023Unnamed fire C2353528 ha in all · 82% of it here23 ha here
17. 2023Unnamed fire C3168427 ha in all27 ha here
18. 2023Unnamed fire C3057226 ha in all26 ha here
19. 2023Unnamed fire C3153811 ha in all11 ha here
20. 2023Unnamed fire C325396.4 ha in all6.4 ha here
21. 2023Unnamed fire C332454 ha in all4 ha here
22. 2023Unnamed fire C319053.1 ha in all3.1 ha here
23. 2023Unnamed fire C304012.2 ha in all2.2 ha here
24. 2023Unnamed fire C434351.6 ha in all1.6 ha here
25. 2023Unnamed fire C319581.3 ha in all1.3 ha here
26. 2023Unnamed fire C335271.1 ha in all1.1 ha here
27. 2023Unnamed fire C213291 ha in all1 ha here
28. 2022Caput Mountain wildfire77 ha in all77 ha here
29. 2022Unnamed fire C327326.2 ha in all6.2 ha here
30. 2022Unnamed fire C201033.2 ha in all3.2 ha here
31. 2022Unnamed fire C319771.9 ha in all1.9 ha here
32. 2022Unnamed fire C319741 ha in all1 ha here
33. 2021Unnamed fire C31295609 ha in all609 ha here
34. 2021Unnamed fire C31115334 ha in all334 ha here
35. 2021Unnamed fire C32369256 ha in all256 ha here
36. 2021Unnamed fire C3259658 ha in all58 ha here
37. 2021Unnamed fire C3236125 ha in all25 ha here
38. 2021Unnamed fire C317263.4 ha in all3.4 ha here
39. 2021Unnamed fire C323472.5 ha in all2.5 ha here
40. 2021Unnamed fire C323682.3 ha in all2.3 ha here
41. 2021Unnamed fire C326661.2 ha in all1.2 ha here
42. 2018Unnamed fire C32603697 ha in all697 ha here
43. 2018Unnamed fire C31689541 ha in all541 ha here
44. 2018Unnamed fire C42820367 ha in all367 ha here
45. 2018Unnamed fire C42393346 ha in all · 37% of it here128 ha here
46. 2018Unnamed fire C31691255 ha in all255 ha here
47. 2018Unnamed fire C31692205 ha in all205 ha here
48. 2018Unnamed fire C3232037 ha in all37 ha here
49. 2018Unnamed fire C3127425 ha in all25 ha here
50. 2018Unnamed fire C3280525 ha in all25 ha here
51. 2018Unnamed fire C3160615 ha in all15 ha here
52. 2018Unnamed fire C316887.2 ha in all7.2 ha here
53. 2018Unnamed fire C223667 ha in all7 ha here
54. 2018Unnamed fire C318286.2 ha in all · 16% of it here1 ha here
55. 2018Unnamed fire C316964.7 ha in all4.7 ha here
56. 2018Unnamed fire C317014.7 ha in all4.7 ha here
57. 2018Unnamed fire C316974.2 ha in all4.2 ha here
58. 2018Unnamed fire C321184 ha in all4 ha here
59. 2018Unnamed fire C323722.4 ha in all2.4 ha here
60. 2018Unnamed fire C316312 ha in all2 ha here
61. 2018Unnamed fire C312961.9 ha in all1.9 ha here
62. 2018Unnamed fire C321250.9 ha in all0.9 ha here
63. 2018Unnamed fire C316940.8 ha in all0.8 ha here
64. 2018Unnamed fire C322710.3 ha in all0.3 ha here
65. 2017Unnamed fire K11632892 ha in all · 58% of it here519 ha here
66. 2017Unnamed fire C31306873 ha in all873 ha here
67. 2017Prouton Lakes wildfire859 ha in all859 ha here
68. 2017Unnamed fire C31008641 ha in all641 ha here
69. 2017Unnamed fire C31156577 ha in all577 ha here
70. 2017Unnamed fire C31823561 ha in all561 ha here
71. 2017Unnamed fire C31005197 ha in all197 ha here
72. 2017Unnamed fire C30892121 ha in all121 ha here
73. 2017Unnamed fire C3088681 ha in all81 ha here
74. 2017Unnamed fire C3088478 ha in all78 ha here
75. 2017Unnamed fire C3089748 ha in all48 ha here
76. 2017Unnamed fire C3088547 ha in all47 ha here
77. 2017Unnamed fire C2090627 ha in all27 ha here
78. 2017Unnamed fire C1164518 ha in all · 24% of it here4.3 ha here
79. 2017Unnamed fire C3182415 ha in all15 ha here
80. 2017Unnamed fire C3193414 ha in all14 ha here
81. 2017Unnamed fire C2089414 ha in all14 ha here
82. 2017Unnamed fire C318225.9 ha in all5.9 ha here
83. 2017Unnamed fire C209023 ha in all3 ha here
84. 2017Unnamed fire C314251.9 ha in all1.9 ha here
85. 2017Unnamed fire C209051.8 ha in all1.8 ha here
86. 2017Unnamed fire C308871.4 ha in all1.4 ha here
87. 2017Unnamed fire C204640.9 ha in all0.9 ha here
88. 2017Unnamed fire C209000.1 ha in all0.1 ha here
89. 2017Unnamed fire C20901under 0.1 ha in allunder 0.1 ha here
90. 2016Unnamed fire C200264.6 ha in all4.6 ha here

Small fires that were never mapped as a perimeter aren't listed: the BC Wildfire Service maps an outline for only some of the fires it records. Past fire is history, not a forecast. The chance of fire on a lot today depends on what the record doesn't show: the forest and grass around it, the slope, what has been thinned or burned since, and how far it is from a fire hall. Every BC season and large fire since 1990.

Sources: BC Wildfire Fire Perimeters – Historical, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Perimeters – Current, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Incident Locations – Historical, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Locations – Current, BC Wildfire Service (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), as published on November 10, 2026; 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence). Outlines simplified and places measured by PlaceDossier.

How the land burned

On the Province's ecosystem map, Area F's land is 48% NDT1 (rarely burned, about every 250 to 350 years and in patches), 31% NDT3 (burned in large fires about every 100 to 150 years), 9% NDT2 (burned in large fires about every 200 years), 8% NDT5 (alpine tundra and subalpine parkland) and 4% NDT4 (burned often and lightly, every 4 to 50 years). Its main biogeoclimatic zones are Engelmann Spruce–Subalpine Fir (32%), Interior Cedar–Hemlock (30%) and Sub-Boreal Spruce (27%). This is how the land burned before fires were put out, not its fire risk today. A report names the type over a lot. Every place's natural fire regime.

Source: BEC Map (biogeoclimatic zones and natural disturbance types), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), read 2026-10-12; areas worked out on the census boundaries.

Evacuations since April 2017

Since April 2017, the Province's record holds 3 wildfire events with an evacuation order or alert over Area F, 2 with an order. The latest order: Spokin Lake Road Wildfire, July 2017.

1. 2024Antler Creek WildfireJuly 2024 · evacuation alert · Cariboo Regional District27 homes
2. 2017Spokin Lake Road WildfireJuly 2017 · evacuation order · Cariboo Regional District1,200 homes
3. 2017Wildwood WildfireJuly 2017 · evacuation order · Cariboo Regional District378 homes

Listed when an order or alert area covered at least 5% of the land in Area F, or lay mostly in Area F and held at least 5% as many homes as the 2021 census counted there. An order means people were told to leave; an alert, to be ready to leave. Homes are the record's own counts, area by area, shown where the areas lie mostly in Area F. The Province's record starts in April 2017: earlier evacuations aren't in it. A lot's report checks every order and alert over the lot itself, and any in effect now.

Sources: Historical Orders and Alerts, Emergency Management and Climate Readiness (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), as published on November 2, 2026; 2021 census subdivision boundaries and dwelling counts, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence). Each order and alert area placed in the municipalities and electoral areas it covers by us.

Evacuations for floods, landslides and other hazards since April 2017

None of the flood, landslide or other non-fire evacuation orders or alerts in the Province's record since April 2017 covered 5% or more of the land or homes in Area F.

Sources: Historical Orders and Alerts, Emergency Management and Climate Readiness (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), as published on November 2, 2026; 2021 census subdivision boundaries and dwelling counts, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence). Each order and alert area placed in the municipalities and electoral areas it covers by us.

131 landslides are recorded inside Area F in the Preliminary Canadian Landslide Database (version 14.0), including 37 earth slides, 19 earth flows and 14 rock rotational slides. The latest with a date of its own: a debris flow, 1898 (listed under “Quesnel Forks”). The database lists slides known to have happened, mapped from inventories, satellite images and lidar. It isn't a hazard map, and some parts of BC are mapped in far more detail than others. Landslides near a given lot.

The Province lists 84 dams in Area F, 9 of them classed High or above for the harm a failure would do downstream: Asahal Lake (Very High), Morehead Lake Dam (High) and Five Mile Creek 1 Dam (High) among them. Of these, 11 are recorded as breached (failed). The class rates what a failure would do, not how likely one is; a report names the dams within 1 km of a lot. Dams in BC, by place.

16 Water Survey of Canada gauges in Area F have 5 or more years of yearly peak flows: Mckinley Creek below Outlet of Mckinley Lake peaked highest at 51.1 m³/s in 1985 (58 years on record), Horsefly River above Mckinley Creek peaked highest at 224 m³/s in 1999 (54 years on record) and Moffat Creek near Horsefly peaked highest at 46.5 m³/s in 1982 (45 years on record), among others. 2 set their record in the last 10 years. A gauge's record is the river where it stands, not a flood line; a report gives the nearest gauge on a river by the lot. River gauges in BC, by place.

Poor-air days: at the Williams Lake Columneetza School air monitoring station, 16 km from 150 Mile House, fine particles passed the level of BC's 24-hour objective (25 µg/m³) on a median of 7 days a year over the 11 years with a full record, 2015 to 2025; the most was 48 days in 2017. Most of these days fell from June to September, the wildfire season (our reading: mostly wildfire smoke). How smoky it gets across BC.

Radon

In the Thompson Cariboo Shuswap health region, 7 of the 109 homes tested (6.4%) in Health Canada's 2009–2011 survey were at or above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline; across BC, 143 of 1,817 (7.9%).

The survey tested about a hundred volunteer homes per health region, with one long-term test each. That gives a rough regional picture: it isn't a map, and a region where few or none tested high can still have homes above the guideline. The only way to know is to test the home: radon and buying a home in BC.

Source: Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011), Health Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Health Service Delivery Area Boundaries, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).

Check one lot: has it burned? · is it on a floodplain map? · is it behind a dike? · is there a dam nearby? · landslides nearby? · contaminated sites nearby? · radon? · how much is too steep?

Source: Agricultural Land Reserve polygons, Agricultural Land Commission (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Fire perimeters – historical, BC Wildfire Service (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Mineral, placer and coal tenures, Mineral Titles Branch (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Preliminary Canadian Landslide Database, version 14.0 (May 2026), Brideau et al. (CC BY 4.0); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

In Area F, more than one of the Cariboo Regional District's bylaws may zone a lot, so whether the Province's floor applies is unclear. Under the Central Cariboo Area Rural Land Use Bylaw No. 3503, 1999, a rural land use bylaw (Local Government Act s. 457), the small-scale multi-unit housing rules, suites and accessory homes included, don't apply; under the Williams Lake Fringe and 150 Mile House Area Zoning Bylaw No. 3502, 1999, a zone limited to detached houses must allow at least one secondary suite or detached accessory home (a garden suite or carriage house) next to a house. Ask the Cariboo Regional District which bylaw applies to the lot; in the Agricultural Land Reserve the Commission's limits come first. How many homes you can build on a lot.

The Province's principal residence requirement doesn't apply in Area F (list in force from June 1, 2026), so the provincial rule doesn't limit short-term rentals to the host's home. Local bylaws, including the zone's own rules, can be stricter. Hosts anywhere in BC register each unit with the provincial registry. Short-term rental rules in BC.

Reports for rural lots in Area F can't name the zone: the Cariboo Regional District doesn't publish its zoning map as open data. They show what the rural and lakeshore zones of the 2 bylaws that may apply allow and say to ask.

• Central Cariboo Area Rural Land Use Bylaw No. 3503, 19997 rural and lakeshore zones summarised in plain words, checked against the bylaw 2026-10-29.
• Williams Lake Fringe and 150 Mile House Area Zoning Bylaw No. 3502, 19997 rural and lakeshore zones summarised in plain words, checked against the bylaw 2026-10-29.

Two bylaws zone Electoral Areas D, E and F: No. 3502 the land around the City of Williams Lake it names (Esler, Chimney Valley, Pine Valley, Commodore Heights, Wildwood, Fox Mountain, Borland Valley, 150 Mile House and Dog Creek), No. 3503 the rest, Horsefly and the Beaver Valley among it. Their rural zones differ in a few figures, so both are shown; other parts of the district have bylaws of their own.

Ask the CRD's planning department which zone a lot is in, or find it on the CRD's planning map, and confirm what it allows before you buy or build.

The federal boundaries put 5 reserves of Williams Lake First Nation in or beside Area F. On reserve land the First Nation decides land use, not the local zoning bylaw; a report says when a lot is on reserve land or within 500 m of it. Reserve land in BC, by place.

The Cariboo Regional District's building inspection covers part of Area F (Building Bylaw No. 4997): the Central Cariboo service area around Williams Lake. There a building permit is needed and the work is inspected; elsewhere in the area it issues none. The BC Building Code applies everywhere all the same. Our reading of the Cariboo Regional District's own page, checked 2026-10-07. Do you need a building permit on rural land?

Check one lot: is it in the ALR? · is the soil good for farming? · is it in a community watershed?

Source: Agricultural Land Reserve polygons, Agricultural Land Commission (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).