Photo: bgilliard from St. Catharines, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0A flood study covers Forest: 1 on the national inventory, the newest from St. Clair Region Conservation Authority
Little of the land around Forest has burned: 0.1% within 25 km since 1986, or 0.002% a year. Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.013 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Forest’s survey area, 8.4% over the radon guideline, is close to the typical town’s 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Forest a grade of A−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Forest’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Forest: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Forest faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Forest grades A− for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Forest, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #455 of 866 in Ontario and #890 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Wildfire is rare near Forest: 0.1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0.4% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Forest’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The yearly burn rate around Forest is 0.002%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Forest fuel is scarce around Forest: 2.3% of the land within 5 km, 0.7% 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
The land around Forest burns at 0.002% a year, the 54th highest rate of 871 towns in Ontario; Sioux Lookout tops it at 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.
7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns burn fast enough to rank moderate or above; Forest stays low, with 92%.
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.
A flood study covers Forest, from St. Clair Region Conservation Authority: 1 on the inventory
Flood studies whose area touches Forest, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
St. Clair Region Conservation Authority studied flooding in an area that includes Forest (2009); open its map to see which streets lie in a flood zone.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| SCRCA Floodplain Estimation Study for Ontario Regulation 171-06 | St. Clair Region Conservation Authority | 2009 | final · not public |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study puts Forest with 69% of towns in Ontario; Canada’s share is 58%.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping is shown for Forest to be opened and checked, never turned into a grade.
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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Forest just $0.013 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.
Forest’s $0.013 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.4 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Ontario peaks in Alexandria ($0.21); Forest, at $0.013, 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.
Earthquakes cost less around Forest than in 75% 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).
The model counts damage to Forest’s buildings and their occupants from shaking only: not liquefaction, landslides, tsunami or fires after a quake.
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 Forest: 8.4% over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Forest’s area, at 8.4%, is close to the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
More homes top the guideline around Forest (8.4%) than in the typical town in Ontario (4%); 0.6% went over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
26% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Forest’s 5–10% 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.
One home in Forest can be high while next door is low; a three-month test settles it.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Data for radon tests covers the Lambton Health Unit
Weather and fire alerts for Forest
Alerts for Forest 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 Forest 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 Forest
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest | Low | $0.013 | 8.4% | Yes |
| Kettle Point 44 1,363 · 12 km | Low | $0.014 | 8.4% | Yes |
| Parkhill 6,864 · 15 km | Low | $0.014 | 1.8% | None listed |
Kettle Point 44 burns a little more than Forest, 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 Forest faces
What to do about the hazards Forest 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?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Forest.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Forest is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Forest’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Forest’s figure is its subdivision’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Forest
Is Forest at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0.1% of the land within 25 km of Forest has burned since 1986, the last in 2006, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
Does Forest flood?
There is flood mapping for Forest on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
Is radon a problem in Forest?
In Health Canada’s survey, 8.4% of 178 homes tested in Forest’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How big is the earthquake risk in Forest?
Expected earthquake damage in Forest comes to $0.013 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
How is Forest’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Forest’s 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).