Photo: Ryan Hodnett · CC BY-SA 4.0Hazards in Humber Arm South: wildfire low, radon over the guideline in 10% of tested homes
The national fire record shows next to nothing around Humber Arm South, 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.000% a year). Seismic risk runs low: $0.007 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Hazard risk gives Humber Arm South a grade of A−, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Humber Arm South’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Humber Arm South: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Humber Arm South faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Humber Arm South: A−
The grade weighs Humber Arm South’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
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 Humber Arm South: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Humber Arm South’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Humber Arm South is 0.000%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
72% of the land within 5 km of Humber Arm South is forest fuel, close to the 74% 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
Near-zero burning puts Humber Arm South with 8 of the 33 towns in Newfoundland and Labrador, far below Labrador City at 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.
Measured against 2,610 towns, Humber Arm South is in the largest group, low (92%), and at its floor, while 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 Humber Arm South
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Humber Arm South: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists no study whose area touches Humber Arm South, which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped.
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 Humber Arm South.
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 Humber Arm South 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.”
Low seismic risk in Humber Arm South: $0.007 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Humber Arm South’s $0.007 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.2 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in Newfoundland and Labrador expects $0.011 a year in shaking damage; Humber Arm South expects less, $0.007, and Holyrood the most, $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.
Most of Canada’s 2,611 towns (88%) face more earthquake damage than Humber Arm South.
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 model counts damage to Humber Arm South’s buildings and their occupants from shaking only: not liquefaction, landslides, tsunami or fires after a quake.
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 Humber Arm South: 10% of area homes were over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Radon runs above the typical Canadian town (6.6%) in Humber Arm South’s area, at 10%. For radon tests, the only official count covers all of the Western Regional Integrated Health Authority, Humber Arm South included.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Humber Arm South, 10% of tests were over 200 Bq/m³ and 1.9% over 600, against a median of 4% in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Humber Arm South is in the 10–20% band, with 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; only 4.6% 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.
Basements, soil and how a house is sealed decide its radon, so in Humber Arm South only a test can say.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Humber Arm South
Alerts for Humber Arm South 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 Humber Arm South 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 Humber Arm South
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Humber Arm South | Low | $0.007 | 10% | None listed |
| Irishtown-Summerside 1,296 · 16 km | Low | $0.007 | 10% | None listed |
| Corner Brook 20,549 · 16 km | Low | $0.007 | 10% | Yes |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Humber Arm South (low); Irishtown-Summerside comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Humber Arm South faces
What to do about the hazards Humber Arm South 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
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Humber Arm South’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- 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 Humber Arm South’s.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Humber Arm South takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- 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 Humber Arm South.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Humber Arm South
Is radon a problem in Humber Arm South?
In Health Canada’s survey, 10% of 211 homes tested in Humber Arm South’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How is Humber Arm South’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Humber Arm South A−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
How big is the earthquake risk in Humber Arm South?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Humber Arm South $0.007 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Does Humber Arm South flood?
Nothing is listed for Humber Arm South on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
Is Humber Arm South at risk of wildfire?
Hardly at all on record: 0% of the land within 25 km of Humber Arm South since 1986, a low band, though small grass fires aren’t mapped.
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).