Photo: Brad4826 · CC BY 3.0A flood study covers Westfield: 1 on the national inventory, the newest from Service New Brunswick - GeoNB
Fire reaches the land around Westfield now and then: 1.8% within 25 km since 1986 (0.08% a year), below the high band. Shaking is about as much of a worry in Westfield as in most places, at $0.031 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). More homes than usual carry radon here, 11% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Westfield grades C+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Westfield’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Westfield: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Westfield faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Westfield: C+
For Westfield, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
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.
A moderate wildfire record for Westfield: 1.8% within 25 km burned, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Westfield’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
At 0.08% of the land a year, Westfield’s burn rate is moderate; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
The closest burn since 1986 lies 16 km from Westfield’s homes, none within 5 km.
More forest grows near Westfield’s homes (89% within 5 km) than across 25 km (83%).
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
Tracadie burns fastest in New Brunswick at 0.28% a year; Westfield, at 0.08%, ranks 7th of 61.
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.
Only 5.4% of Canada’s 2,610 towns share the moderate band with Westfield, and 2.1% sit above it.
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 Westfield, from Service New Brunswick - GeoNB: 1 on the inventory
Flood studies whose area touches Westfield, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
For Westfield the inventory points to Service New Brunswick - GeoNB’s 2020 study, whose map is the one to check.
| 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
Mapping in New Brunswick reaches 93% of towns, Westfield included, beside 58% across Canada.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping is shown for Westfield to be opened and checked, never turned into a grade.
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.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Westfield $0.031 per $1,000 a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
At $0.031 per $1,000, Westfield’s earthquake risk is the typical Canadian town’s $0.030.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk around Westfield ($0.031) matches the middle in New Brunswick ($0.036), far from St. Stephen’s $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.
Westfield sits mid-range among Canada’s 2,611 towns: 48% expect more shaking damage.
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).
Roads, pipes and bridges aren’t in Westfield’s figure, nor landslides or tsunami: it is buildings and shaking.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon runs high around Westfield: 11% of tested homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
the typical Canadian town has 6.6% over the guideline; Westfield’s area has 11%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Below the typical town in New Brunswick (20%) at 11%, the area around Westfield still had 1% of tests over 600 Bq/m³.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
The 10–20% band holds 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, Westfield among them; 4.6% rank above.
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.
A survey sample isn’t a map: any home in Westfield can be high, and a three-month test is the only way to know.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests published for the Region 2 health region, not by town
Weather and fire alerts for Westfield
Alerts for Westfield 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. |
Fire danger and active fires near Westfield are mapped daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System; evacuation orders come from the municipality or province.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Westfield
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westfield | Moderate | $0.031 | 11% | Yes |
| Grand Bay-Westfield 5,202 · 6.6 km | Low | $0.031 | 11% | Yes |
| Greenwich 1,272 · 11 km | Moderate | $0.027 | 11% | Yes |
| Saint John 79,371 · 15 km | Low | $0.033 | 11% | Yes |
| Rothesay 12,626 · 16 km | Low | $0.033 | 11% | Yes |
| Kingston 3,577 · 17 km | Low | $0.029 | 11% | Yes |
| Quispamsis 20,240 · 18 km | Low | $0.031 | 11% | Yes |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around Westfield (moderate), with Greenwich next at moderate.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Westfield faces
Practical steps for Westfield’s hazards, most pressing first.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- 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.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- How close is the forest edge?
- 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 Westfield floods.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as Westfield’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Westfield’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- 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 Westfield sits in.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Westfield
Is radon a problem in Westfield?
The area’s survey found 11% of 101 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Westfield.
Does Westfield flood?
Westfield’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
How big is the earthquake risk in Westfield?
Expected earthquake damage in Westfield comes to $0.031 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
How is Westfield’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Westfield C+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is Westfield at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Westfield’s moderate band (1.8% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2025) 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).