Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center · Public domainHazards in Upham: wildfire low, radon over the guideline in 11% of tested homes
Burn scars are few around Upham, with 0.4% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.01% a year). Shaking is about as much of a worry in Upham as in most places, at $0.024 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Hazard risk gives Upham a grade of B−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Upham’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Upham: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Upham faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Upham grades B− for hazard risk
Earthquake risk and radon make Upham’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Few fires near Upham: 0% within 5 km, 0.4% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Upham’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Next to the typical Canadian town (0.000% a year), Upham’s 0.01% is in the low band.
The 5 km ring around Upham’s homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 19 km out.
About as much forest grows next to Upham’s homes (78% within 5 km) as across 25 km (77%).
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
Upham sits mid-table in New Brunswick: 20th of 61 towns, at 0.01% a year, well behind Tracadie (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.
Beside 2,610 Canadian towns, Upham reads low, with 92% of them; only 7.5% rank 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.
No flood study is listed for Upham
Flood studies whose area touches Upham, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
There is no study for Upham on the national flood inventory, which is far from complete.
Towns with a flood study on file
Upham has no flood study on file, though 93% of towns in New Brunswick do (Canada: 58%).
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Upham floods.
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.”
Expected shaking damage in Upham: $0.024 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.
With $0.024 of shaking damage a year per $1,000, Upham is about even with the typical $0.030 (0.8 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in New Brunswick expects $0.036 a year in shaking damage; Upham expects less, $0.024, and St. Stephen the most, $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.
Upham’s earthquake risk lands near the centre of Canada’s range; 54% of the 2,611 towns are higher.
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 Upham’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).
11% of homes tested around Upham are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Upham’s area, at 11%, is above the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town, so testing is worth more here than most places. For radon tests, the only official count covers all of the Region 2 health region, Upham included.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Upham’s area, at 11%, is below the median in New Brunswick (20%), though 1% 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.
4.6% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Upham, in the 10–20% band with 22%.
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.
Basements, soil and how a house is sealed decide its radon, so in Upham only a test can say.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Upham
Alerts for Upham come from Environment and Climate Change Canada and, for emergencies, Alert Ready.
| 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. |
Alert Ready carries evacuation orders for Upham to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Upham
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upham | Low | $0.024 | 11% | None listed |
| Norton 1,416 · 8.4 km | Low | $0.024 | 11% | Yes |
| Hampton 4,754 · 12 km | Low | $0.029 | 11% | Yes |
| Hampton 3,268 · 13 km | Low | $0.023 | 11% | Yes |
| Saint Martins 1,280 · 14 km | Low | $0.023 | 11% | Yes |
| Norton 1,551 · 17 km | Low | $0.027 | 11% | Yes |
The fire record around Norton is a touch heavier than Upham’s, but the band is the same: low (here low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Upham faces
Practical steps for Upham’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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Upham’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Upham takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Upham’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Upham.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Upham
Does Upham flood?
The inventory has 0 studies for Upham, and an empty list isn’t a clean bill: the municipality holds any flood maps.
Is radon a problem in Upham?
The area’s survey found 11% of 101 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Upham.
How big is the earthquake risk in Upham?
Expected earthquake damage in Upham comes to $0.024 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
How is Upham’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Upham B−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is Upham at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Upham’s low band (0.4% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 1992) is short of the level that counts.
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).