Photo: Rick Cordeiro · Public domainCentral’s hazards at a glance: a low wildfire record and 5% of area homes over the radon guideline
The burned-area map is nearly blank around Central, 0% within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. Earthquake risk in Central is ordinary: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.044 a year per $1,000 of value, close to the typical town’s $0.030. Central grades B+ for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Central’s hazards
For Central, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Central faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Central grades B+ for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Central with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #494 of 866 in Ontario and #1,255 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
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.
Little of the land around Central has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Central’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
In a typical year 0.000% of the land near Central burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
With 1.6% forest fuel within 5 km and 2% within 25 km, the land around Central gives a fire little to burn.
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
Little or nothing burns around Central in a typical year; 638 of the 871 towns in Ontario share that, and Sioux Lookout leads 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.
Measured against 2,610 towns, Central is in the largest group, low (92%), and at its floor, while 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 Central
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Central: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
An empty entry for Central on the inventory isn’t proof of safety; ask locally for flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
69% of towns in Ontario have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Central 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.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Central’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.”
Ordinary seismic risk in Central: $0.044 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Earthquake losses in Central, $0.044 per $1,000, are in line with the typical $0.030 (1.5 times).
Figures for earthquake risk are published for the city of Hamilton as a whole, not for Central alone.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk around Central ($0.044) matches the middle in Ontario ($0.043), far from 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.
32% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Central, 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).
For Central the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
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 Central: 5% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
The survey area of Central reads 5%, a shade from the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Behind radon tests sits data gathered across the City of Hamilton Health Unit, with Central one part of it.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The median in Ontario is 4% over 200 Bq/m³; the survey area around Central has 5%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Central is in the 5–10% band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% 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.
Radon varies from house to house in Central, so the survey is a reason to test, not a result for yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Central
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Central; 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 Central, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Central
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Strathcona 9,348 · 1.0 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | Yes |
| North End East 4,816 · 1.2 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Durand 13,338 · 1.2 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Beasley 6,338 · 1.2 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Corktown 8,952 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Kirkendall North 5,864 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
Among its neighbours Central has the most fire on record (low); Strathcona follows (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Central faces
What to do about the hazards Central 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
- 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 Central until then.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Central’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Wildfire counts one way. For Central, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Central without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Central
How is Central’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Central grades B+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is Central at risk of wildfire?
Hardly at all on record: 0% of the land within 25 km of Central since 1986, a low band, though small grass fires aren’t mapped.
Does Central flood?
Nothing is listed for Central on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
Is radon a problem in Central?
In Health Canada’s survey, 5% of 100 homes tested in Central’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How big is the earthquake risk in Central?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Central $0.044 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).