Photo: Tango7174 · CC BY-SA 4.0Hazard risk in Spaniard's Bay is lower than in 93% of Canadian towns
Wildfire is a moderate presence around Spaniard's Bay: 2.6% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, 0.07% a year, short of the band that counts against Risk. Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.011 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 4% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Spaniard's Bay grades A for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Spaniard's Bay’s hazards
For Spaniard's Bay, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Spaniard's Bay faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Spaniard's Bay grades A for hazard risk
The grade weighs Spaniard's Bay’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
Its place: #11 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador and #278 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
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.
Some fire around Spaniard's Bay: 2.6% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Spaniard's Bay’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The yearly burn rate around Spaniard's Bay is 0.07%, above 0.000% for the typical Canadian town but under the high band.
Fire has stayed at least 20 km from Spaniard's Bay’s homes since 1986.
The nearer ring around Spaniard's Bay is less wooded (67% forest fuel) than the land out to 25 km (79%).
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 32
At 0.07% a year, Spaniard's Bay is near the top in Newfoundland and Labrador: 8th of 32, behind Labrador City (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.
Only 5.4% of Canada’s 2,610 towns share the moderate band with Spaniard's Bay, 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.
Department of Environment and Climate Change has mapped flooding for Spaniard's Bay (1 study)
Flood studies whose area touches Spaniard's Bay, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
One study on the inventory touches Spaniard's Bay, Department of Environment and Climate Change’s from 2012, and its area can be large, so it says a map exists, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shearstown - Bay Roberts | Department of Environment and Climate Change | 2012 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
59% of towns in Newfoundland and Labrador have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Spaniard's Bay 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 Spaniard's Bay’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.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Spaniard's Bay just $0.011 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.
0.4 times the typical $0.030: Spaniard's Bay’s $0.011 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk around Spaniard's Bay ($0.011) matches the middle in Newfoundland and Labrador ($0.011), far from Holyrood’s $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.
Spaniard's Bay is in the lower part of Canada’s range for earthquake risk; 85% 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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Spaniard's Bay 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).
4% of homes tested around Spaniard's Bay are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Measured across the Eastern Regional Integrated Health Authority: radon tests
At 4% over the guideline, the area around Spaniard's Bay is under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon around Spaniard's Bay is ordinary for towns in Newfoundland and Labrador: 4%, beside a median of 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 Spaniard's Bay; 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.
Whatever Spaniard's Bay’s area share, the reading that matters is your own home’s, over a winter.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Spaniard's Bay
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Spaniard's Bay; 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. |
In fire season, check CWFIS for danger and active fires around Spaniard's Bay, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Spaniard's Bay
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spaniard's Bay | Moderate | $0.011 | 4% | Yes |
| Bay Roberts 6,407 · 3.6 km | Low | $0.010 | 4% | Yes |
| Upper Island Cove 1,553 · 6.3 km | Moderate | $0.012 | 4% | Yes |
| Harbour Grace 2,872 · 8.5 km | Moderate | $0.010 | 4% | None listed |
| Clarke's Beach 1,555 · 11 km | Low | $0.010 | 4% | None listed |
| Carbonear 5,041 · 14 km | Moderate | $0.010 | 4% | Yes |
| Victoria 1,837 · 17 km | Moderate | $0.009 | 4% | Yes |
Victoria burns a little more than Spaniard's Bay, in the same moderate band (moderate here).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Spaniard's Bay faces
What to do about the hazards Spaniard's Bay faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- 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
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Spaniard's Bay’s included.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Spaniard's Bay 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 Spaniard's Bay.
- Wildfire counts one way. Burned land within 25 km of where people live, averaged over 1986–2025 and checked for fuel near homes, is the measure; it looks back, not ahead, and only ever counts against Spaniard's Bay.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Spaniard's Bay
How is Spaniard's Bay’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Spaniard's Bay’s Hazard risk grade is A, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is radon a problem in Spaniard's Bay?
Around Spaniard's Bay, 100 survey homes were tested and 4% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Is Spaniard's Bay at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 2.6% of the land around Spaniard's Bay since 1986 (last in 2025); at moderate, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Does Spaniard's Bay flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Spaniard's Bay; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Spaniard's Bay?
About $0.011 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Spaniard's Bay.
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).