Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Burk's Falls faces fewer hazards than 88% of Canadian towns
For Burk's Falls, wildfire history is close to nil: 0% of nearby land since 1986, 0.000% a year. Seismic risk in Burk's Falls sits near the middle: $0.023 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Radon is lower than usual: 1.9% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Burk's Falls a grade of A, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Burk's Falls’s hazards
For Burk's Falls, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Burk's Falls faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Burk's Falls: A
The grade weighs Burk's Falls’ seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
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.
Few fires near Burk's Falls: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Burk's Falls’ residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
At 0.000% of the land a year, Burk's Falls’ burn rate is in the low band; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Near or far, forest fuel covers a similar share around Burk's Falls: 20% within 5 km and 24% 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 872
Sioux Lookout has the highest burn rate in Ontario, 0.16% a year; around Burk's Falls, as around 639 of the 872 towns, it rounds to zero.
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.
Only 7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are above the low band, which holds 92%; Burk's Falls, at a rounded zero, is far from them.
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 Burk's Falls
Flood studies whose area touches Burk's Falls, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Nationally, Burk's Falls has no listed flood study; the municipality is the place to ask.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are common in Ontario, 69% of towns against 58% nationally, but none in the inventory touches Burk's Falls.
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 Burk's Falls 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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Burk's Falls $0.023 per $1,000 a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
At $0.023 per $1,000, Burk's Falls’ earthquake risk is about the typical Canadian town’s ($0.030; 0.8 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Below the middle in Ontario: Burk's Falls’ $0.023 against a median of $0.043; Alexandria has $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.
Burk's Falls’ earthquake risk lands near the centre of Canada’s range; 54% 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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Burk's Falls is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Little radon around Burk's Falls: 1.9% of area homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
A lower share than most: 1.9% of tested homes around Burk's Falls, the typical Canadian town 6.6%. Burk's Falls doesn’t get its own radon tests figures; the ones here come from the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Burk's Falls’ area, at 1.9%, is below the median in Ontario (4%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Radon rarely tops the guideline around Burk's Falls, as for 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 63% see 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 low area share in Burk's Falls 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 Burk's Falls
Alerts for Burk's Falls 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. |
Fire danger and active fires near Burk's Falls are mapped daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System; evacuation orders come from the municipality or province.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Burk's Falls
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burk's Falls | Low | $0.023 | 1.9% | None listed |
| Armour 1,698 · 6.1 km | Low | $0.022 | 1.9% | None listed |
| Strong 1,624 · 13 km | Low | $0.025 | 1.9% | None listed |
| Perry 2,866 · 13 km | Low | $0.024 | 1.9% | Yes |
| Magnetawan 1,888 · 15 km | Low | $0.025 | 1.9% | None listed |
| Sundridge 1,056 · 17 km | Low | $0.015 | 1.9% | None listed |
| Kearney 1,055 · 18 km | Low | $0.023 | 1.9% | Yes |
Burk's Falls’ low band tops its neighbours; Armour is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Burk's Falls faces
What to do about the hazards Burk's Falls 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
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Burk's Falls’ included.
- 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 Burk's Falls 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 Burk's Falls floods.
- 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 Burk's Falls.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Burk's Falls
Does Burk's Falls flood?
Nothing is listed for Burk's Falls on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
How big is the earthquake risk in Burk's Falls?
Expected earthquake damage in Burk's Falls comes to $0.023 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is Burk's Falls at risk of wildfire?
The burned-area record shows next to nothing around Burk's Falls (0% within 25 km since 1986), so its band is low.
How is Burk's Falls’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Burk's Falls A, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is radon a problem in Burk's Falls?
In Health Canada’s survey, 1.9% of 103 homes tested in Burk's Falls’ 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).