Photo: Ken Eckert · CC BY-SA 4.0Few places are as safe from hazards as Bay Bulls: it beats 93% of Canadian towns
Fire seldom reaches Bay Bulls: since 1986, 0.7% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.02% a year). Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.011 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. Radon is lower than usual: 4% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Bay Bulls a grade of A; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Bay Bulls’s hazards
For Bay Bulls, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Bay Bulls faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Bay Bulls: A
Two inputs always count for Bay Bulls, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Little of the land around Bay Bulls has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0.7% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Bay Bulls’ homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Bay Bulls is 0.02%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Nothing inside 5 km of Bay Bulls’ homes has burned since 1986, and the nearest scar is 14 km off.
Forest crowds in on Bay Bulls: 73% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, more than the 65% 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 Newfoundland and Labrador · highest of 33
Bay Bulls burns at 0.02% a year, 16th of 33 towns in Newfoundland and Labrador; the leader, Labrador City, reaches 0.43%.
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.
Bay Bulls 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.
No flood study is listed for Bay Bulls
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Bay Bulls: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
An empty entry for Bay Bulls on the inventory isn’t proof of safety; ask locally for flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are common in Newfoundland and Labrador, 59% of towns against 58% nationally, but none in the inventory touches Bay Bulls.
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 Bay Bulls 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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Bay Bulls just $0.011 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Bay Bulls’ $0.011 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.4 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
About level with the typical town in Newfoundland and Labrador: Bay Bulls’ $0.011 against $0.011; Holyrood reaches $0.015.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
85% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Bay Bulls.
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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Bay Bulls is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Little radon around Bay Bulls: 4% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
At 4% over the guideline, the area around Bay Bulls is under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Bay Bulls’ area, at 4%, is close to the median in Newfoundland and Labrador (4%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
The quietest radon band, under 5%, holds 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns and Bay Bulls; 63% sit 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.
Radon varies from house to house in Bay Bulls, so the survey is a reason to test, not a result for yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the Eastern Regional Integrated Health Authority
Where to get warnings in Bay Bulls
Alerts for Bay Bulls 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 Bay Bulls 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)
How Bay Bulls’ neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bay Bulls | Low | $0.011 | 4% | None listed |
| Witless Bay 1,833 · 5.1 km | Low | $0.011 | 4% | None listed |
| Division No. 1, Subdivision U 1,522 · 15 km | Low | $0.013 | 4% | Yes |
| Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove 1,005 · 19 km | Low | $0.012 | 4% | Yes |
Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove burns a little more than Bay Bulls, in the same low band (low here).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Bay Bulls faces
What to do about the hazards Bay Bulls faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- 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
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Bay Bulls takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Bay Bulls, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- 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 Bay Bulls.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Bay Bulls’ census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
Questions about flooding and hazards in Bay Bulls
Is Bay Bulls at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0.7% of the land within 25 km of Bay Bulls has burned since 1986, the last in 2025, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
Does Bay Bulls flood?
Nothing is listed for Bay Bulls on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
How big is the earthquake risk in Bay Bulls?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Bay Bulls’ buildings lose $0.011 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in Bay Bulls?
In Health Canada’s survey, 4% of 100 homes tested in Bay Bulls’ area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How is Bay Bulls’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Bay Bulls A, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
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).