Photo: Dr Wilson · CC BY-SA 3.0On hazards, Charlo comes out behind 89% of Canadian towns
Fire seldom reaches Charlo: since 1986, 1.1% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.03% a year). Seismic risk in Charlo sits near the middle: $0.048 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. More homes than usual carry radon here, 24% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Charlo grades D for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Charlo’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Charlo: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Charlo faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Charlo: D
Earthquake risk and radon make Charlo’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Few fires near Charlo: 0% within 5 km, 1.1% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Charlo’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Low: the land around Charlo burns at 0.03% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Fire has stayed at least 16 km from Charlo’s homes since 1986.
There is forest near Charlo’s homes (60% within 5 km) and more of it further out (66% 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 New Brunswick · highest of 61
Charlo ranks 13th of the 61 towns in New Brunswick for burn rate, at 0.03% a year; Tracadie leads with 0.28%.
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.
Charlo is in the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 7.5% sit in moderate or higher.
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 Charlo, from Service New Brunswick - GeoNB: 1 on the inventory
Flood studies whose area touches Charlo, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
One study on the inventory touches Charlo, Service New Brunswick - GeoNB’s from 2020, and its area can be large, so it says a map exists, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inland Flood Mapping in New Brunswick and Updated Sea-Level Rise and Flooding Estimates for New Brunswick Coastal Sections 2020 | Service New Brunswick - GeoNB | 2020 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
93% of towns in New Brunswick have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Charlo has one too.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Charlo’s homes are at risk.
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.
Expected shaking damage in Charlo: $0.048 a year per $1,000
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
Earthquake losses in Charlo, $0.048 per $1,000, are in line with the typical $0.030 (1.6 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Charlo’s $0.048 tops the median in New Brunswick, $0.036, though St. Stephen reaches $0.16.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
31% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Charlo, which places it in the upper third.
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).
The loss is to Charlo’s buildings alone, from ground shaking; infrastructure and secondary hazards are left out.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Test for radon in Charlo: 24% of area homes were over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the Region 5 health region
Radon runs above the typical Canadian town (6.6%) in Charlo’s area, at 24%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Charlo’s area, at 24%, is close to the median in New Brunswick (20%); 4.5% of its tests passed 600 Bq/m³.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Charlo is in the 20–30% band, which holds only 3.1% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 1.5% are higher.
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.
The share describes the area, not a house: in Charlo as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Charlo
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Charlo; Alert Ready carries the urgent ones to phones, radio and TV.
| 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for Charlo come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Charlo’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlo | Low | $0.048 | 24% | Yes |
| Eel River Crossing 1,918 · 7.3 km | Low | $0.048 | 24% | Yes |
| Dalhousie 3,255 · 8.2 km | Low | $0.031 | 24% | Yes |
| Balmoral 1,628 · 8.8 km | Low | $0.035 | 24% | Yes |
| Dalhousie 1,132 · 14 km | Low | $0.033 | 24% | Yes |
| Nouvelle 1,819 · 16 km | Low | $0.030 | 25% | Yes |
Charlo’s low band tops its neighbours; Balmoral is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Charlo faces
Practical steps for Charlo’s hazards, most pressing first.
- 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.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. A study’s area can be a whole watershed or province, so being on the inventory says a map exists, not that a home in Charlo floods.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Charlo’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Radon is a survey. The radon share comes from about 14,000 long-term home tests in 2009–2011, pooled for now by the 2007 health region Charlo sits in.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Charlo’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Charlo
Is Charlo at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Charlo’s low band (1.1% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2025) is short of the level that counts.
How big is the earthquake risk in Charlo?
About $0.048 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Charlo.
Does Charlo flood?
Charlo’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
Is radon a problem in Charlo?
The area’s survey found 24% of 110 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Charlo.
How is Charlo’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Charlo grades D for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
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).