Photo: PatHirtle · CC BY-SA 4.0Wildfire low, radon 6.2%: how Bridgewater stands on hazards
Burn scars are few around Bridgewater, with 0.1% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.001% a year). Seismic risk in Bridgewater sits near the middle: $0.021 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Hazard risk gives Bridgewater a grade of A−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Bridgewater’s hazards
For Bridgewater, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Bridgewater faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Bridgewater: A−
The grade weighs Bridgewater’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: #26 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #689 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.
Wildfire is rare near Bridgewater: 0.1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Bridgewater’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low by Canadian standards: 0.001% of the land a year around Bridgewater, 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Fire has stayed at least 17 km from Bridgewater’s homes since 1986.
Within 5 km of Bridgewater, 74% of the land is forest fuel; widen the ring to 25 km and it is 88%.
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 Nova Scotia · highest of 90
Barrington tops the 90 towns in Nova Scotia at 0.46% a year; Bridgewater, at 0.001%, comes 69th.
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.
7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns burn fast enough to rank moderate or above; Bridgewater stays low, with 92%.
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 Bridgewater
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Bridgewater: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The inventory has nothing for Bridgewater, but a local or conservation-authority map may still exist.
Towns with a flood study on file
88% of towns in Nova Scotia have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Bridgewater is not yet one of them.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Bridgewater’s homes stand in a flood zone.
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.”
Ordinary seismic risk in Bridgewater: $0.021 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
With $0.021 of shaking damage a year per $1,000, Bridgewater is about even with the typical $0.030 (0.7 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk around Bridgewater ($0.021) matches the middle in Nova Scotia ($0.018), far from Clare’s $0.034.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Around half of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Bridgewater (63%).
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).
For Bridgewater the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
6.2% of homes tested around Bridgewater are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
At 6.2% over the guideline, the area around Bridgewater is about level with the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Below the typical town in Nova Scotia (13%) at 6.2%, the area around Bridgewater still had 2.1% 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.
A middling share of high tests puts Bridgewater with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, below 26% of them.
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 Bridgewater 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). · Data for radon tests covers the Zone 1 health region
Where to get warnings in Bridgewater
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Bridgewater; 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 Bridgewater, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Bridgewater
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgewater | Low | $0.021 | 6.2% | None listed |
| Lunenburg 26,862 · 2.6 km | Low | $0.022 | 6.2% | Yes |
| Mahone Bay 1,200 · 13 km | Low | $0.018 | 6.2% | Yes |
| Lunenburg 2,523 · 17 km | Low | $0.018 | 6.2% | None listed |
The fire record around Lunenburg is a touch heavier than Bridgewater’s, but the band is the same: low (here low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Bridgewater faces
What to do about the hazards Bridgewater 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. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Bridgewater is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- 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 Bridgewater.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Bridgewater’s included.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Bridgewater.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Bridgewater
How is Bridgewater’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Bridgewater A−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is radon a problem in Bridgewater?
Around Bridgewater, 97 survey homes were tested and 6.2% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Is Bridgewater at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0.1% of the land around Bridgewater since 1986 (last in 2023); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Bridgewater?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Bridgewater’s buildings lose $0.021 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Does Bridgewater flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Bridgewater’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
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).