Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/clifbudden/ Clif Budden · CC BY 2.0Hazard risk in St. Alban's is lower than in 93% of Canadian towns
Wildfire is rare near St. Alban's: 0.8% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.02% a year. Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.009 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). About as many homes carry radon around St. Alban's as elsewhere, 5% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives St. Alban's a grade of A; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about St. Alban's’s hazards
For St. Alban's, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What St. Alban's faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
St. Alban's grades A for hazard risk
Earthquake risk and radon make St. Alban'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. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Few fires near St. Alban's: 0% within 5 km, 0.8% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where St. Alban's’ residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
At 0.02% of the land a year, St. Alban's’ burn rate is in the low band; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
The 5 km ring around St. Alban's’ homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 9.8 km out.
Forest fuel is denser close to St. Alban's (72% within 5 km) than further out (45% 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
In the upper half in Newfoundland and Labrador but far from Labrador City (0.43%): St. Alban's ranks 16th of 33, at 0.02% a year.
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.
Some fire is mapped around St. Alban's, but not enough to leave the low band, where 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are; 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 St. Alban's
Flood studies whose area touches St. Alban's, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
NRCan’s inventory is silent on St. Alban's, so any flood map would be the municipality’s own.
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Newfoundland and Labrador reaches 59% of towns, beside 58% across Canada, but not St. Alban's.
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 St. Alban'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.”
Low seismic risk in St. Alban's: $0.009 per $1,000 of buildings a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
At $0.009 per $1,000, St. Alban's carries 0.3 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030): low.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk around St. Alban's ($0.009) 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.
Most of Canada’s 2,611 towns (86%) face more earthquake damage than St. Alban's.
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).
What a quake does after the shaking, fire, landslides, tsunami, falls outside NRCan’s figure for St. Alban's.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon about average around St. Alban's: 5% over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Shared with the rest of the Central Regional Integrated Health Authority: radon tests
Around St. Alban's, 5% of tested homes topped the guideline, near the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around St. Alban's, 5% of tests were over 200 Bq/m³ and 2% 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.
37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns share St. Alban's’ band of 5 to 10%; 26% 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.
Neighbouring homes in St. Alban's can differ a lot; only a long-term test tells you about yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in St. Alban's
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for St. Alban's; 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 St. Alban's, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what St. Alban's faces
Practical steps for St. Alban'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. 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 St. Alban'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 St. Alban's.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, St. Alban's takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, St. Alban's’ included.
Questions about flooding and hazards in St. Alban's
Is St. Alban's at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: St. Alban's’ band is low, with 0.8% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 1986), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in St. Alban's?
Expected earthquake damage in St. Alban's comes to $0.009 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
How is St. Alban's’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
St. Alban's grades A for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is radon a problem in St. Alban's?
5% of the 201 homes Health Canada tested around St. Alban's topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
Does St. Alban's flood?
No study on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory covers St. Alban's (0), which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped, so ask the municipality.
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).