East Kootenay, 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, 13 wildfires of 1,000 ha or more burned in Area F, together 72,668 ha, 12% of its land (ground that burned twice counts once). The most here was the White River wildfire in 2017, 26,399 ha.

1. 2026Jumbo Creek wildfire1,136 ha in all1,136 ha here
2. 2024Ravenshead wildfire8,615 ha in all8,615 ha here
3. 2023Yearling Creek wildfire5,870 ha in all5,870 ha here
4. 2023Mia Creek wildfire5,420 ha in all5,420 ha here
5. 2023Horsethief Creek wildfire4,111 ha in all · under 1% of it here27 ha here
6. 2020Doctor Creek wildfire7,646 ha in all · 99% of it here7,559 ha here
7. 2018Cross River wildfire3,015 ha in all3,010 ha here
8. 2017White River wildfire26,399 ha in all26,399 ha here
9. 2017Island Pond wildfire1,033 ha in all · 91% of it here940 ha here
10. 2014White Complex wildfire1,967 ha in all · 65% of it here1,277 ha here

And 3 more

1. 2014Unnamed fire N202361,222 ha in all1,222 ha here
2. 2003Unnamed fire N2032110,734 ha in all10,684 ha here
3. 2001Unnamed fire N204761,063 ha in all1,063 ha here

Smaller mapped fires since 2016

Since 2016, the BC Wildfire Service mapped 26 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 N212365.8 ha in all5.8 ha here
2. 2024Unnamed fire N2129537 ha in all37 ha here
3. 2023Schofield Creek wildfire711 ha in all711 ha here
4. 2023Whiteswan wildfire7.7 ha in all7.7 ha here
5. 2022Unnamed fire N218447.3 ha in all7.3 ha here
6. 2022Hardie Creek wildfire1.9 ha in all1.9 ha here
7. 2022Larson Lake wildfire1.2 ha in all1.2 ha here
8. 2021Mineral Creek wildfire104 ha in all104 ha here

And 18 more

1. 2021Ptarmigan Creek wildfire67 ha in all67 ha here
2. 2021Granite Creek wildfire25 ha in all25 ha here
3. 2021Madius Creek wildfire5.3 ha in all · 24% of it here1.3 ha here
4. 2021Dry Creek North wildfire4.6 ha in all4.6 ha here
5. 2021Centaur Lake wildfire4.4 ha in all4.4 ha here
6. 2021Cold Spring Creek wildfire2.3 ha in all2.3 ha here
7. 2021Bear Creek wildfire1.7 ha in all1.7 ha here
8. 2019Mt Dorman wildfire4.2 ha in all4.2 ha here
9. 2018Unnamed fire N2048448 ha in all48 ha here
10. 2018Unnamed fire N2161513 ha in all13 ha here
11. 2018Unnamed fire N211488.1 ha in all8.1 ha here
12. 2018Unnamed fire N207676.8 ha in all6.8 ha here
13. 2017Unnamed fire N21945203 ha in all203 ha here
14. 2017Unnamed fire N2200360 ha in all60 ha here
15. 2017Unnamed fire N220781.2 ha in all1.2 ha here
16. 2017Unnamed fire N221901.2 ha in all · 63% of it here0.8 ha here
17. 2017Unnamed fire N219560.7 ha in all0.7 ha here
18. 2016Unnamed fire N200051.8 ha in all1.8 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 68% NDT3 (burned in large fires about every 100 to 150 years), 18% NDT5 (alpine tundra and subalpine parkland), 11% NDT4 (burned often and lightly, every 4 to 50 years), 3% NDT1 (rarely burned, about every 250 to 350 years and in patches) and under 1% NDT2 (burned in large fires about every 200 years). Its main biogeoclimatic zones are Engelmann Spruce–Subalpine Fir (57%), Montane Spruce (22%) and Interior Douglas-fir (11%). In the dry forest and grassland of NDT4, a century of putting fires out has let many stands fill in, building up fuel that can carry a crown fire instead of a light surface fire. 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 1 wildfire event with an evacuation order or alert over Area F, alerts only. The latest: Horsethief Creek Wildfire, July 2023.

1. 2023Horsethief Creek WildfireJuly 2023 · evacuation alert · Regional District of East Kootenay584 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.

32 landslides are recorded inside Area F in the Preliminary Canadian Landslide Database (version 14.0), including 7 rock rotational slides, 6 mountain slope deformations and 6 rock translational slides. The latest with a date of its own: an earth slide, 1939 (listed under “Near Invermere”). 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 maps about 8.4 km of dikes in Area F, along Cold Spring Creek, Columbia River, Cox Creek and Dutch Creek and others; the longest are the Dutch Creek dike, the Columbia River_02 dike and the Cold Spring Creek dike. About 3.9 km is orphaned, with no local authority responsible. A dike lowers the chance of a flood behind it, not to nothing; a report names the dikes within 1 km of a lot and who maintains them. Dikes in BC, by place.

The Province lists 15 dams in Area F, 6 of them classed High or above for the harm a failure would do downstream: Maccarthy Lake Dam (High), Paddy Ryan Lake Middle (High) and Bunyan Lake Dam (High) among them. 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.

6 Water Survey of Canada gauges in Area F have 5 or more years of yearly peak flows: Columbia River near Fairmont Hot Springs peaked highest at 99.4 m³/s in 1972 (49 years on record), Albert River at 1310 M Contour peaked highest at 38.5 m³/s in 1974 (24 years on record) and Palliser River In Lot Sl49 peaked highest at 183 m³/s in 1974 (18 years on record), among others. 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 East Kootenay health region, 20 of the 105 homes tested (19%) 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).

Mapped aquifers

9 mapped aquifers lie in Area F, most wells first.

1. 1Aquifer 453: Windermere; east side of Windermere Lakeconfined sand and gravel (glacial)296 wells · moderate productivity
2. 2Aquifer 603: Invermere 3 km north and southunconfined sand and gravel (medium stream system)124 wells · moderate productivity
3. 3Aquifer 879: Lillian Lake, northwest of Wilmer Creekfractured sedimentary rock81 wells · moderate productivity
4. 4Aquifer 458: Fairmont Hotsprings; west side of the riverunconfined sand and gravel (medium stream system)48 wells · moderate productivity
5. 5Aquifer 878: Wilmerconfined sand and gravel (glacial)36 wells · moderate productivity
6. 6Aquifer 1130: West of Invermere, south of Toby Creekconfined sand and gravel (glacial)23 wells · moderate productivity
7. 7Aquifer 1000: Eastern side of Windermere Lakefractured sedimentary rock9 wells · moderate productivity
8. 8Aquifer 1129: FairmontHot springsfractured sedimentary rock6 wells · low productivity
9. 9Aquifer 459: Fairmont Hot Springsconfined sand and gravel (glacial)0 wells · high productivity

An aquifer is listed for each place that holds at least a twentieth of it, so a sliver of one at the edge can be left out. Wells and productivity are for the whole aquifer, which can reach well beyond Area F. The province maps aquifers mostly in settled valleys, so a lot outside every outline can still have groundwater. Every mapped aquifer in BC · sampled lakes.

Sampled lakes

7 sampled lakes lie in Area F (2 only partly), largest first.

1. 1Columbia Lake24 km² · 84% of it hereclarity 4.1 m (2015–2025)
2. 2Windermere Lake16 km² · 93% of it hereclarity 4.4 m (2015–2025)
3. 3Whiteswan Lake4 km²clarity 11.1 m (2015–2025)
4. 4Whitetail Lake2 km²too few readings to judge
5. 5Moose Lake (Kootenay River watershed)29.9 hatoo few readings to judge
6. 6Lillian Lake26.8 haoligotrophic (inferred)
7. 7Unnamed lake in the Columbia River watershed4.4 hatoo few readings to judge

A lake is listed for each place that holds at least a twentieth of it or 100 ha of it. Clarity is the median summer Secchi depth; the nutrient class is our reading of Carlson's index from phosphorus or chlorophyll, not a provincial rating. Either is given only for a lake with at least 10 summer readings from open water, spread over at least 3 different years, since 2012. Most lakes have never been sampled, so a lake missing here may simply have no record. Every sampled lake in BC.

Source: Groundwater wells (GWELLS), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Ground Water Aquifers, Water Protection and Sustainability Branch, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); BC Environmental Monitoring Data System (EnMoDS) results, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

Normals for 1981-2010 at the Kootenay National Park West Gate station, about 19 km from Windermere (of the communities here with a station within 30 km, the one with the most addresses); ECCC has no fuller 1991-2020 set for it. Its normals don't include the frost-free period, days with snow on the ground or degree days, so those are left out. * Based on at least 20 or 15 of the 30 years, short of the World Meteorological Organization's standard: treat as a rougher guide. The records are single days measured at the station: the most rain, snow and wind it saw in its record up to 2010 (ECCC's 1981-2010 sets give records over the station's whole history, so some dates are older than 1981). Each is one event, not what to expect in a year, and the lot can get more or less than the station. Elevation matters a lot in BC: a hillside lot can be much colder and snowier than the station. We don't set this station's figures against other places: it's more than 15 km from the place.

Plant hardiness zone: most homes here are in zone 5a (89%), on Natural Resources Canada's 2025 map. Higher numbers are milder winters. What the zones mean.

Solar panels: a south-facing panel tilted at the latitude would make about 1,100 kWh a year for each kW of panels at Windermere, about 51 of it in December (estimated from Natural Resources Canada's 1998-2022 sunshine map). An open sky is assumed: the hills, trees and buildings around a lot cut it, and a report sets the lot's own skyline beside it. What solar panels would make in BC.

By the 2050s (2041-2070) at Windermere, climate models project about 19 more days over 30 °C a year, a longest frost-free run about 35 days longer and about 6 percentage points less of winter's precipitation falling as snow, each against the same models' 1971-2000 (model projections under SSP2-4.5, a middle path for emissions). The models work on a grid of about 9 by 6 km, which averages valley floors with the slopes around them, so their own figures can sit well off a station's normals and aren't comparable with them. Their own figures there: about 26 days over 30 °C a year in 2041-2070 (range 20 to 45 across the models), against about 7 days in 1971-2000; a longest frost-free run of about 150 days (range 135 to 170), against about 115; and about 86% of winter's precipitation falling as snow (range 78% to 88%), against about 92%. The ranges run from the 10th to the 90th percentile of the models' 2041-2070 figures. The 2050s across BC.

Light at night within 1 km of Windermere: faint, as around Wells or Lytton (our reading), and darker than about 87% of BC's homes (2024 satellite record). A lot away from the centre can be much darker. How dark are BC's nights?

Lightning: around Windermere, a cloud-to-ground flash within 10 km on about 13 days a year and 0.19 flashes per km² a year, more than at 3 in 4 BC homes (the Canadian Lightning Detection Network, 1998-2025 average, on a grid of about 11 by 7 km).

Source: Canadian Climate Normals 1991-2020 and 1981-2010, Environment and Climate Change Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Plant hardiness zones of Canada (2025 map), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Medium Resolution Digital Elevation Model (MRDEM-30), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Solar position: General Solar Position Calculations (NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory; Spencer, 1971) (Public domain); Daily average solar irradiance on tilted surfaces for all of Canada (1998-2022), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Photovoltaic Potential and Solar Resource Maps of Canada (performance ratio), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Statistically downscaled climate indices from CMIP6 global climate models (CanDCS-M6), Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium, via the Canadian Centre for Climate Services (Open Government Licence – Canada); VIIRS Nighttime Lights, 2024 annual composite, Earth Observation Group, Payne Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines (Elvidge et al. 2021, Remote Sensing 13(5):922), via Hengl, OpenGeoHub, Zenodo doi 10.5281/zenodo.7750174 (CC BY 4.0); Canadian Lightning Detection Network cloud-to-ground flashes (CanCPLDv1), Environment and Climate Change Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada).

The Province lists 20 active waste discharge authorizations in Area F; the commonest kinds: sewage treatment or discharge site (9), concrete plant (2) and hazardous waste storage or treatment (2). Of these, 2 may discharge to air, 12 effluent to water or land and 2 refuse to land. A report lists any within 2 km of a lot, and flags one whose point is on it. Permitted discharges in BC, by place.

The Province maps no open gravel pit or quarry in Area F, but 2 open mine permits: 1 mineral exploration permit area and 1 mineral exploration or mine permit area. A report lists the permits within 2 km of a lot, names an open pit or quarry within 500 m and flags one whose permit area takes in the lot. Gravel pits and mine permits in BC, by place.

On ParcelMap BC, the land in Area F is 5% private, 8% Crown land with a parcel drawn (1% with no title); no parcel is mapped over 86%, likely most of it untitled Crown land, with lakes and road allowances. A report says who owns the land along a lot's line. Crown land next to a property, and every place's land by owner.

The Ministry of Forests maps 17 active Crown range tenures (17 grazing) reaching into Area F, over 68% of its area, licensed for about 4,610 animal unit months of grazing a year in all. Outside a pound district, keeping livestock off a lot is the owner's fence to build. A report lists any tenure within 1 km of a lot. Open range and grazing in BC, by place.

The Province maps 32 registered traplines over 88% of the area and 13 guide outfitter territories over 84% in Area F. The maps are drawn over titled land too, but traplines are registered on Crown land: on titled land, anyone but the owner or occupier needs their written permission to trap. A report says whether either takes in a lot. Traplines and guiding territories in BC, by place.

Area F lies in wildlife management units 4-26 (40%), 4-24 (29%), 4-25 (28%): the Hunting and Trapping Regulations Synopsis sets seasons and closed areas by unit. Hunting and shooting on your own property.

BC Parks maps 10 parks and protected areas (Columbia Lake Ecological Reserve; Columbia Lake Park, a provincial park; Elk Lakes Park, a provincial park; Height of the Rockies Park, a provincial park; and 6 more) reaching into Area F, over 20% of its land. Recreation Sites and Trails BC lists 18 sites there. A report names the nearest park and recreation site within 25 km of a lot. Parks and recreation sites in BC, by place.

Check one lot: is there a mineral claim? · power lines nearby? · pipelines nearby? · a gravel pit nearby? · a landfill or plant nearby? · logging planned nearby? · cattle on open range? · is there a trapline? · can I hunt on it? · a park nearby? · Crown land next door?

Source: Mineral, placer and coal tenures, Mineral Titles Branch (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).