Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 4.0Factory Island 1 faces fewer hazards than almost every Canadian town
Fire seldom reaches Factory Island 1: since 1986, 0% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.000% a year). Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.009 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 1% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Factory Island 1 grades A+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Factory Island 1’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Factory Island 1: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Factory Island 1 faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Factory Island 1 grades A+ for hazard risk
Earthquake risk and radon make Factory Island 1’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.
Little of the land around Factory Island 1 has burned: 0.2% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Factory Island 1’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Around Factory Island 1 fire takes 0.000% of the land in a typical year, the typical Canadian town 0.000%, which is low.
The nearer ring around Factory Island 1 is less wooded (71% forest fuel) than the land out to 25 km (82%).
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
To three decimals the burn rate around Factory Island 1 is zero, as for 639 of the 872 towns in Ontario, while Sioux Lookout reaches 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.
Like most of Canada’s 2,610 towns (92%), Factory Island 1 is in the low band, with a burn rate of zero to three decimals; 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 Factory Island 1
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Factory Island 1: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
NRCan’s inventory is silent on Factory Island 1, so any flood map would be the municipality’s own.
Towns with a flood study on file
Missing from a well-mapped province: Factory Island 1 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.
Flood is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Factory Island 1’s homes stand in a flood zone.
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.”
Little shaking expected in Factory Island 1: $0.009 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Shaking costs the typical town $0.030 a year; in Factory Island 1 it is only $0.009, 0.3 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Ontario peaks in Alexandria ($0.21); Factory Island 1, at $0.009, is below the median of $0.043.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Factory Island 1 is in the lower part of Canada’s range for earthquake risk; 86% 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 Factory Island 1’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).
1% of homes tested around Factory Island 1 are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Factory Island 1’s survey area reads 1% over the guideline, under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Fewer homes top the guideline around Factory Island 1 (1%) 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.
63% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Factory Island 1’s band, which holds 37%.
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 Factory Island 1 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). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the Porcupine Health Unit
Weather and fire alerts for Factory Island 1
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Factory Island 1; 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. |
In fire season, check CWFIS for danger and active fires around Factory Island 1, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Factory Island 1’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Factory Island 1 | Low | $0.009 | 1% | None listed |
| Moosonee 1,510 · 3.2 km | Low | $0.010 | 1% | None listed |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around Factory Island 1 (low), with Moosonee next at low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Factory Island 1 faces
Practical steps for Factory Island 1’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
- 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 Factory Island 1 sits in.
- 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 Factory Island 1’s.
- 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 Factory Island 1 floods.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Factory Island 1’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Factory Island 1
Is Factory Island 1 at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Factory Island 1’s low band (0% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2012) is short of the level that counts.
Is radon a problem in Factory Island 1?
The area’s survey found 1% of 96 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Factory Island 1.
How is Factory Island 1’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Factory Island 1’s Hazard risk grade is A+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Does Factory Island 1 flood?
The inventory has 0 studies for Factory Island 1, and an empty list isn’t a clean bill: the municipality holds any flood maps.
How big is the earthquake risk in Factory Island 1?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Factory Island 1 $0.009 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
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).