Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0East Ferris faces few natural hazards: little fire nearby, low seismic risk, radon over the guideline in 1.9% of tested homes
The national fire record shows next to nothing around East Ferris, 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.000% a year). Shaking is about as much of a worry in East Ferris as in most places, at $0.056 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Hazard risk gives East Ferris a grade of A−, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about East Ferris’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for East Ferris: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What East Ferris faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
East Ferris grades A− for hazard risk
The grade weighs East Ferris’ seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
Its place: #454 of 866 in Ontario and #887 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
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.
Little of the land around East Ferris has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where East Ferris’ residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
At 0.000% of the land a year, East Ferris’ burn rate is in the low band; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Fire has stayed at least 20 km from East Ferris’ homes since 1986.
Forest fuel is spread evenly around East Ferris: 21% within 5 km, 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 871
Among the 871 towns in Ontario, Sioux Lookout burns fastest (0.16% a year); East Ferris is with the 638 near 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.
Most of the country’s 2,610 towns are low-band (92%, against 7.5% above); around East Ferris, burning rounds to zero.
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 East Ferris
Flood studies whose area touches East Ferris, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Nationally, East Ferris has no listed flood study; the municipality is the place to ask.
Towns with a flood study on file
69% of towns in Ontario have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; East Ferris 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 studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for East Ferris.
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 East Ferris: $0.056 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.
Earthquake losses in East Ferris, $0.056 per $1,000, are in line with the typical $0.030 (1.9 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
East Ferris’ $0.056 tops the median in Ontario, $0.043, though 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.
30% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than East Ferris, which places it in the upper third.
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).
The loss is to East Ferris’ buildings alone, from ground shaking; infrastructure and secondary hazards are left out.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
1.9% of homes tested around East Ferris are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Where the typical Canadian town has 6.6% of homes over the guideline, East Ferris’ area has fewer, 1.9%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Fewer homes top the guideline around East Ferris (1.9%) than in the typical town in Ontario (4%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
East Ferris is in the lowest band, with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns: under 5% of tests over the guideline, while 63% 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.
The share describes the area, not a house: in East Ferris as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Not measured by town: radon tests (the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit)
Weather and fire alerts for East Ferris
Alerts for East Ferris 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 East Ferris 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 East Ferris
The same four hazards for the places next door.
North Bay burns a little more than East Ferris, in the same low band (low here).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what East Ferris faces
What to do about the hazards East Ferris 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. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; East Ferris’ figure is its subdivision’s.
- 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 East Ferris until then.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for East Ferris without grading them.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around East Ferris’ homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
Questions about flooding and hazards in East Ferris
How big is the earthquake risk in East Ferris?
About $0.056 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for East Ferris.
Is East Ferris at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of East Ferris has burned since 1986, the last in 2012, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
Is radon a problem in East Ferris?
In Health Canada’s survey, 1.9% of 103 homes tested in East Ferris’ area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Does East Ferris flood?
Nothing is listed for East Ferris on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
How is East Ferris’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
East Ferris’ Hazard risk grade is A−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
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).