Central Kootenay, Electoral Area G

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, one wildfire of 1,000 ha or more burned in Area G: the South Pend D wildfire in 2007, 2,067 ha here, 1% of its land.

1. 2007South Pend D wildfire2,308 ha in all · 90% of it here2,067 ha here

Smaller mapped fires since 2016

Since 2016, the BC Wildfire Service mapped 14 smaller fires (under 1,000 ha) that reached Area G, newest first. This season's are as mapped by November 9, 2026.

1. 2026Unnamed fire N7193226 ha in all26 ha here
2. 2026Sheep Creek wildfire24 ha in all24 ha here
3. 2026Unnamed fire N502223.7 ha in all3.7 ha here
4. 2026Unnamed fire N516432.7 ha in all2.7 ha here
5. 2026Unnamed fire N520531.4 ha in all1.4 ha here
6. 2022Unnamed fire N51881796 ha in all · 86% of it here687 ha here
7. 2022Unnamed fire N71281294 ha in all · 99% of it here292 ha here
8. 2022Unnamed fire N515059 ha in all9 ha here

And 6 more

1. 2021Sheep Creek wildfire1.4 ha in all1.4 ha here
2. 2018McArthur Creek wildfire703 ha in all703 ha here
3. 2018Unnamed fire N5291055 ha in all55 ha here
4. 2018Unnamed fire N528791.1 ha in all1.1 ha here
5. 2017McCormick Creek wildfire410 ha in all410 ha here
6. 2016Unnamed fire N501921.4 ha in all1.4 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 G's land is 65% NDT2 (burned in large fires about every 200 years), 26% NDT3 (burned in large fires about every 100 to 150 years), 5% NDT4 (burned often and lightly, every 4 to 50 years), 4% NDT1 (rarely burned, about every 250 to 350 years and in patches) and under 1% NDT5 (alpine tundra and subalpine parkland). Its main biogeoclimatic zones are Interior Cedar–Hemlock (58%) and Engelmann Spruce–Subalpine Fir (42%). 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

None of the wildfire evacuation orders or alerts in the Province's record since April 2017 covered 5% or more of the land or homes in Area G.

Listed when an order or alert area covered at least 5% of the land in Area G, or lay mostly in Area G 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 G. 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

Since April 2017, the Province's record holds 4 flood events with an evacuation order or alert over Area G, 1 with an order. The latest order: Salmo River Drainage, May 2020.

1. 2023Salmo and Erie CreekMay 2023 · evacuation alert (flood) · Regional District of Central Kootenay892 homes
2. 2020Salmo River DrainageMay 2020 · evacuation order (flood) · Regional District of Central Kootenay270 homes
3. 2020Unnamed floodMay 2020 · evacuation alert (flood) · Regional District of Central Kootenay
4. 2018Erie Creek and Salmo RiverMay 2018 · evacuation alert (flood) · Central Kootenay Regional District542 homes

Listed when an order or alert area covered at least 5% of the land in Area G, or lay mostly in Area G 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 G. 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.

9 landslides are recorded inside Area G in the Preliminary Canadian Landslide Database (version 14.0), including 5 earth slides, 2 rock slides and 1 debris flow. The latest with a date of its own: a debris flow, 1998. 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 3 dams in Area G, 1 of them classed High or above for the harm a failure would do downstream: Rosebud Lake Dam (Very High). 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.

2 Water Survey of Canada gauges in Area G have 5 or more years of yearly peak flows: Salmo River near Salmo peaked highest at 474 m³/s in 2020 (73 years on record) and Hidden Creek near the Mouth peaked highest at 39.6 m³/s in 1980 (48 years on record). 1 set its 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.

Radon

In the Kootenay Boundary health region, 32 of the 109 homes tested (29%) 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).

Area G is outside the Province's speculation and vacancy tax area, so the tax doesn't apply to a home here. Our summary of the Province's pages, read 2026-10-04. Where the tax applies, and who pays.

The typical home here is the median value owners gave the 2021 census, and the typical household's income is the median for 2020: a home that costs 5.4 years of income took that many years of a typical household's whole income. "Typical" for places its size is the middle of BC's rural electoral areas.

Source: Census of Population 2021, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

In Area G, 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. A floor of 3 or 4 homes applies on rural land only inside an urban containment boundary drawn in a regional growth strategy, and most rural land is outside one. None of it applies on land in an Islands Trust local trust area or under a rural land use bylaw, and 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 G (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 lots in Area G can't name the zone: we have no open zoning map for it (see the places covered).

Ask the Central Kootenay Regional District for a lot's zone and what it allows.

The Regional District of Central Kootenay's building inspection covers all of Area G (Building Bylaw No. 2200, 2010): building, adding on, moving or demolishing a building needs a building permit, and the work is inspected. Our reading of the Regional District of Central Kootenay's own page, checked 2026-10-07. Do you need a building permit on rural land?

The Province maps 2 designated community watersheds, Kelly Community Watershed and Quartz Community Watershed, over 2% of Area G: land draining to a licensed drinking-water intake, where logging and roads on Crown land must protect the supply. A report says whether a lot lies in one and whose water it is. Community watersheds in BC, by place.

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).