Okanagan-Similkameen, Electoral Area C

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, 4 wildfires of 1,000 ha or more burned in Area C, together 14,996 ha, 34% of its land (ground that burned twice counts once). The most here was the Nk' Mip Creek wildfire in 2021, 10,105 ha.

1. 2023Upper Park Rill C… wildfire2,382 ha in all · 39% of it here924 ha here
2. 2021Nk' Mip Creek wildfire19,930 ha in all · 51% of it here10,105 ha here
3. 2019Unnamed fire K512442,640 ha in all · 22% of it here592 ha here
4. 2015Testalinden Creek wildfire5,202 ha in all · 65% of it here3,390 ha here

Smaller mapped fires since 2016

Since 2016, the BC Wildfire Service mapped 6 smaller fires (under 1,000 ha) that reached Area C, newest first.

1. 2025Unnamed fire K500442.6 ha in all2.6 ha here
2. 2023Unnamed fire K532274.5 ha in all · 94% of it here4.2 ha here
3. 2018Unnamed fire K525738.3 ha in all8.3 ha here
4. 2018Unnamed fire K521645.3 ha in all5.3 ha here
5. 2018Unnamed fire K512163.9 ha in all · 95% of it here3.7 ha here
6. 2018Unnamed fire K504363.7 ha in all3.7 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 C's land is 62% NDT4 (burned often and lightly, every 4 to 50 years), 36% NDT3 (burned in large fires about every 100 to 150 years), 2% NDT2 (burned in large fires about every 200 years) and under 1% NDT5 (alpine tundra and subalpine parkland). Its main biogeoclimatic zones are Interior Douglas-fir (31%), Montane Spruce (26%), Ponderosa Pine (21%), Engelmann Spruce–Subalpine Fir (12%) and Bunchgrass (10%). 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 2 wildfire events with an evacuation order or alert over Area C, each with an order. The latest order: Upper Park Rill Wildfire - Electoral Area C, August 2023.

1. 2023Upper Park Rill Wildfire - Electoral Area CAugust 2023 · evacuation order and alert · Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen269 homes
2. 2021Nk'Mip Creek WildfireJuly 2021 · evacuation order · Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen

Listed when an order or alert area covered at least 5% of the land in Area C, or lay mostly in Area C 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 C. 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 1 flood event with an evacuation order or alert over Area C, alerts only. The latest: Sportsmens Bowl Rd, April 2018.

1. 2018Sportsmens Bowl RdApril 2018 · evacuation alert (flood) · Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen113 homes

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

5 landslides are recorded inside Area C in the Preliminary Canadian Landslide Database (version 14.0): 4 rock falls and 1 mud flow. 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 39.8 km of dikes in Area C, along Okanagan River, Kalamalka Lake and Vaseux Creek; the longest are the Okanagan Flood Control (Coldstream District) dike and the Vaseux (McIntyre) Creek dike. All of it 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 20 dams in Area C, 4 of them classed High or above for the harm a failure would do downstream: McCuddy #2 (High), Baldy Creek Reservoir #1 Dam (High) and McCuddy #2 Saddle Dam (High) among them. Of these, 2 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.

3 Water Survey of Canada gauges in Area C have 5 or more years of yearly peak flows: Okanagan River near Oliver peaked highest at 106 m³/s in 2017, equalling 1990 (68 years on record), Okanagan River below Mcintyre Dam peaked highest at 82.4 m³/s in 2017 (13 years on record) and Testalinden Creek In Canyon peaked highest at 0.9 m³/s in 1972 (11 years on record). 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.

Radon

In the Okanagan health region, 19 of the 109 homes tested (17%) 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).

Normals for 1981-2010 at the Oliver station, at the middle of the area's addresses at Oliver (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.

Plant hardiness zone: most homes here are in zone 7a (40%); 28% are in 6a, 25% are in 6b, 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 1,080 kWh a year for each kW of panels at the middle of the area's addresses at Oliver, about 38 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 Oliver, climate models project about 25 more days over 30 °C a year, a longest frost-free run about 45 days longer and about 14 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 55 days over 30 °C a year in 2041-2070 (range 50 to 81 across the models), against about 30 days in 1971-2000; a longest frost-free run of about 220 days (range 195 to 250), against about 175; and about 46% of winter's precipitation falling as snow (range 32% to 50%), against about 60%. 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 the middle of the area's addresses at Oliver: like a small town such as Gibsons, Sooke or Valemount (our reading), and darker than about 77% 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 the middle of the area's addresses at Oliver, a cloud-to-ground flash within 10 km on about 8 days a year and 0.17 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).