Photo: Tim Green from Bradford, UK · CC BY 2.0Hazards in Shelburne: wildfire moderate, radon over the guideline in 6.2% of tested homes
The burn rate around Shelburne is 0.18% a year (7% of the land within 25 km since 1986), a moderate band. Seismic risk in Shelburne sits near the middle: $0.021 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Shelburne grades A− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Shelburne’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Shelburne: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Shelburne faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Shelburne: A−
Two inputs always count for Shelburne, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
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. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
A moderate wildfire record for Shelburne: 7% within 25 km burned, 13% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Shelburne’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The yearly burn rate around Shelburne is 0.18%, above 0.000% for the typical Canadian town but under the high band.
About as much forest grows next to Shelburne’s homes (80% within 5 km) as across 25 km (83%).
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
At 0.18% a year, Shelburne is near the top in Nova Scotia: 3rd of 90, behind Barrington (0.46%).
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.
Shelburne is in the moderate band, which holds 5.4% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 2.1% 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 Shelburne
Flood studies whose area touches Shelburne, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
The inventory has nothing for Shelburne, but a local or conservation-authority map may still exist.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are common in Nova Scotia, 88% of towns against 58% nationally, but none in the inventory touches Shelburne.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Nothing here counts toward Risk; the studies are pointers to the maps their owners keep for Shelburne.
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.”
Expected shaking damage in Shelburne: $0.021 a year per $1,000
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
Shelburne’s $0.021 is close to the typical town’s $0.030 (0.7 times as much).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk around Shelburne ($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.
Shelburne’s earthquake risk lands near the centre of Canada’s range; 63% 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).
Roads, pipes and bridges aren’t in Shelburne’s figure, nor landslides or tsunami: it is buildings and shaking.
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 Shelburne: 6.2% over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Measured across the Zone 1 health region: radon tests
6.2% of tested homes around Shelburne were over the guideline, much like the typical Canadian town at 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 Shelburne 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.
Shelburne is in the 5–10% band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% have more.
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.
A survey sample isn’t a map: any home in Shelburne can be high, and a three-month test is the only way to know.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Shelburne
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Shelburne; 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. |
For fires near Shelburne, the national fire information system maps danger and active fires daily; local authorities give any evacuation order.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Shelburne
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shelburne | Moderate | $0.021 | 6.2% | None listed |
| Shelburne 1,797 · 3.7 km | High | $0.017 | 6.2% | None listed |
Next door, Shelburne sits in a high fire band; Shelburne is moderate.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Shelburne faces
What to do about the hazards Shelburne 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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- How close is the forest edge?
- 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, Shelburne takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Shelburne’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 Shelburne’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 Shelburne.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Shelburne
How big is the earthquake risk in Shelburne?
About $0.021 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Shelburne.
How is Shelburne’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Shelburne’s Hazard risk grade is A−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is Shelburne at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 7% of the land within 25 km of Shelburne has burned since 1986, the last in 2023, a moderate band that leaves Risk alone.
Does Shelburne flood?
Nothing is listed for Shelburne on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
Is radon a problem in Shelburne?
In Health Canada’s survey, 6.2% of 97 homes tested in Shelburne’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
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).