Photo: DebraJNolan · CC BY-SA 4.0Garden River 14 faces fewer hazards than 88% of Canadian towns
The burned-area map is nearly blank around Garden River 14, 0% within 25 km since 1986, 0.001% a year. Seismic risk runs low: $0.004 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. In Health Canada’s survey, 8.6% of homes tested in Garden River 14’s area exceeded 200 Bq/m³, close to the typical 6.6%. Garden River 14 grades A for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Garden River 14’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Garden River 14: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Garden River 14 faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Garden River 14 grades A for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Garden River 14, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
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 Garden River 14 has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Garden River 14’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The yearly burn rate around Garden River 14 is 0.001%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
No fire has burned within 5 km of Garden River 14’s homes since 1986; the nearest burn is 17 km away.
9% of the land within 5 km of Garden River 14 is forest fuel, close to the 7.4% 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
At 0.001% a year, Garden River 14 is near the top in Ontario: 83rd of 872, behind Sioux Lookout (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; Garden River 14 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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Garden River 14
Flood studies whose area touches Garden River 14, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
An empty entry for Garden River 14 on the inventory isn’t proof of safety; ask locally for flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Ontario reaches 69% of towns, beside 58% across Canada, but not Garden River 14.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Garden River 14’s homes are at risk.
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.”
Low seismic risk in Garden River 14: $0.004 per $1,000 of buildings a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
0.1 times the typical $0.030: Garden River 14’s $0.004 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Garden River 14’s $0.004 sits under the median in Ontario, $0.043, and well under Alexandria’s $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.
Garden River 14 is among Canada’s quietest towns for earthquakes: 98% of the 2,611 expect more damage.
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 Garden River 14’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 Garden River 14: 8.6% over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
At 8.6% over the guideline, the area around Garden River 14 is about level with the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Garden River 14, 8.6% of tests were over 200 Bq/m³ and 1.1% over 600, against a median of 4% in Ontario.
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 Garden River 14’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.
The share describes the area, not a house: in Garden River 14 as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Data for radon tests covers the The District of Algoma Health Unit
Weather and fire alerts for Garden River 14
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Garden River 14; 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 Garden River 14, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Garden River 14’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garden River 14 | Low | $0.004 | 8.6% | None listed |
| Macdonald, Meredith and Aberdeen Additional 1,771 · 12 km | Low | $0.004 | 8.6% | None listed |
| Sault Ste. Marie 81,182 · 14 km | Low | $0.004 | 8.6% | None listed |
| Laird 1,221 · 18 km | Low | $0.005 | 8.6% | None listed |
Sault Ste. Marie burns a little more than Garden River 14, 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 Garden River 14 faces
What to do about the hazards Garden River 14 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. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as Garden River 14’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 Garden River 14 until then.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Garden River 14 without grading them.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Garden River 14’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 Garden River 14
Does Garden River 14 flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Garden River 14’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
Is radon a problem in Garden River 14?
Around Garden River 14, 93 survey homes were tested and 8.6% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Is Garden River 14 at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Garden River 14 since 1986 (last in 2025); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How is Garden River 14’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Garden River 14 grades A for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Garden River 14?
About $0.004 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Garden River 14.
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).