Photo: William Booth · Public domainHazard risk in Shelburne is higher than in 96% of Canadian towns
Wildfire is a real hazard for Shelburne: 12% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, 0.31% a year, in the high band. For earthquakes Shelburne is middling, $0.017 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. Shelburne’s survey area, 6.2% over the radon guideline, is close to the typical town’s 6.6%. Shelburne grades D− 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
Shelburne grades D− for hazard risk
Earthquake risk and radon make Shelburne’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Fire country: 12% of the land within 25 km of Shelburne has burned since 1986, 1.3% 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 0.31%, against 0.000% for the typical Canadian town: the high band.
Forest fuel is denser close to Shelburne (89% within 5 km) than further out (81% 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 Nova Scotia · highest of 91
At 0.31% a year, Shelburne is near the top in Nova Scotia: 2nd of 91, 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.
Just 1.9% of Canada’s 2,610 towns burn fast enough for the high band where Shelburne sits; 0.2% burn faster.
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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Shelburne
Flood studies whose area touches Shelburne, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists no study whose area touches Shelburne, which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped.
Towns with a flood study on file
Shelburne has no flood study on file, though 88% of towns in Nova Scotia do (Canada: 58%).
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Shelburne floods.
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: $0.017 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.
0.6 times the typical $0.030: Shelburne’s $0.017 is ordinary.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Shelburne’s $0.017 is close to the median in Nova Scotia, $0.018; Clare is highest at $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.
Earthquakes cost less around Shelburne than in 70% of Canada’s 2,611 towns.
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. · Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the Zone 1 health region
At 6.2% over the guideline, the area around Shelburne is about level with the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Fewer homes top the guideline around Shelburne (6.2%) than in the typical town in Nova Scotia (13%), yet 2.1% went over 600.
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 Shelburne’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.
The survey sampled homes around Shelburne; it can’t tell you your basement’s level.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Shelburne
Alerts for Shelburne 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. |
Evacuation orders for Shelburne come from the municipality or the province, while CWFIS maps fire danger every day.
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 | High | $0.017 | 6.2% | None listed |
| Shelburne 4,542 · 3.7 km | Moderate | $0.021 | 6.2% | None listed |
Nowhere around Shelburne burns more: Shelburne, the closest rival, is moderate to its high.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Shelburne faces
Practical steps for Shelburne’s hazards, most pressing first.
- 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
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Shelburne’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Radon is a survey. The radon share comes from about 14,000 long-term home tests in 2009–2011, pooled for now by the 2007 health region Shelburne sits in.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. A study’s area can be a whole watershed or province, so being on the inventory says a map exists, not that a home in Shelburne floods.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Shelburne’s figure is its subdivision’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Shelburne
How is Shelburne’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Shelburne grades D− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is Shelburne at risk of wildfire?
It is: 12% of the land within 25 km of Shelburne has burned since 1986, the latest in 2023, which puts it in the high band that lowers Risk.
Does Shelburne flood?
No study on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory covers Shelburne (0), which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped, so ask the municipality.
Is radon a problem in Shelburne?
6.2% of the 97 homes Health Canada tested around Shelburne topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
How big is the earthquake risk in Shelburne?
About $0.017 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Shelburne.
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).