Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 2.5Hazards in Barry's Bay: wildfire low, radon over the guideline in 8% of tested homes
Wildfire is rare near Barry's Bay: 0.1% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.001% a year. NRCan expects $0.038 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in Barry's Bay, near the typical $0.030. Hazard risk gives Barry's Bay a grade of B, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Barry's Bay’s hazards
For Barry's Bay, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Barry's Bay faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Barry's Bay: B
Earthquake risk and radon make Barry's Bay’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
Its place: #630 of 866 in Ontario and #1,451 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Little of the land around Barry's Bay has burned: 0.1% within 5 km, 0.1% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Barry's Bay’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low: the land around Barry's Bay burns at 0.001% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Forest fuel is spread evenly around Barry's Bay: 39% within 5 km, 37% 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 Ontario · highest of 871
Barry's Bay ranks 83rd of the 871 towns in Ontario for burn rate, at 0.001% a year; Sioux Lookout leads with 0.16%.
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.
The low band takes in 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, Barry's Bay among them, though its rate is above zero; 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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Barry's Bay
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Barry's Bay: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
There is no study for Barry's Bay on the national flood inventory, which is far from complete.
Towns with a flood study on file
Missing from a well-mapped province: Barry's Bay has no study, where 69% of towns in Ontario have one against 58% nationally.
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 Barry's Bay 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 Barry's Bay: $0.038 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Nothing unusual about Barry's Bay’s ground: $0.038 against a typical $0.030, 1.3 times.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
About level with the typical town in Ontario: Barry's Bay’s $0.038 against $0.043; Alexandria reaches $0.21.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Middle of the pack: 45% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more earthquake risk than Barry's Bay.
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 Barry's Bay 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).
Some radon around Barry's Bay: 8% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the Renfrew County and District Health Unit
Near the middle for radon: Barry's Bay’s area 8%, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Barry's Bay’s area, at 8%, is above the median in Ontario (4%), and 1% of its tests passed 600 Bq/m³.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Radon tops the guideline in a modest share of homes around Barry's Bay, a band holding 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% rank above.
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 low area share in Barry's Bay doesn’t clear a house, nor does a high one condemn it: test.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Barry's Bay
Alerts for Barry's Bay 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 Barry's Bay 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)
How Barry's Bay’s neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barry's Bay | Low | $0.038 | 8% | None listed |
| Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards 2,505 · 19 km | Low | $0.067 | 8% | None listed |
The fire record around Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards is a touch heavier than Barry's Bay’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 Barry's Bay faces
Practical steps for Barry's Bay’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
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Barry's Bay without grading them.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Barry's Bay’s included.
- 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 Barry's Bay.
- Radon is a survey. Radon figures pool the survey’s home tests by area: postal areas once their boundaries arrive, the 2007 health region around Barry's Bay until then.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Barry's Bay
How big is the earthquake risk in Barry's Bay?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Barry's Bay $0.038 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
How is Barry's Bay’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Barry's Bay B, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does Barry's Bay flood?
No study on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory covers Barry's Bay (0), which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped, so ask the municipality.
Is Barry's Bay at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Barry's Bay’s band is low, with 0.1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2025), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
Is radon a problem in Barry's Bay?
8% of the 100 homes Health Canada tested around Barry's Bay topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
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).