Hazards in Kirkendall South: wildfire low, radon over the guideline in 5% of tested homes
Fire has left almost no mark near Kirkendall South: 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. For earthquakes Kirkendall South is middling, $0.044 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. Kirkendall South grades B+ for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Kirkendall South’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Kirkendall South: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Kirkendall South faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Kirkendall South grades B+ for hazard risk
Seismic risk and radon set Kirkendall South’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of 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. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Few fires near Kirkendall South: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Kirkendall South’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The land within 25 km of Kirkendall South burns at 0.000% a year on average, the low band; the typical Canadian town: 0.000%.
With 0.9% forest fuel within 5 km and 2% within 25 km, the land around Kirkendall South 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 Kirkendall South 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.
Like most of Canada’s 2,610 towns (92%), Kirkendall South 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 Kirkendall South
Flood studies whose area touches Kirkendall South, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
The inventory has nothing for Kirkendall South, but a local or conservation-authority map may still exist.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are common in Ontario, 69% of towns against 58% nationally, but none in the inventory touches Kirkendall South.
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 Kirkendall South.
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 Kirkendall South: $0.044 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.
1.5 times the typical $0.030: Kirkendall South’s $0.044 is ordinary.
For earthquake risk, the only official count covers all of the city of Hamilton, Kirkendall South included.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Typical for its province: Kirkendall South at $0.044 beside a median in Ontario of $0.043, with Alexandria on top at $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.
More earthquake risk than most: only 32% of Canada’s 2,611 towns are above Kirkendall South.
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 Kirkendall South’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).
5% of homes tested around Kirkendall South are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
The survey area of Kirkendall South 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 Kirkendall South 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 Kirkendall South has 5%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Radon tops the guideline in a modest share of homes around Kirkendall South, a band holding 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% rank above.
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.
Basements, soil and how a house is sealed decide its radon, so in Kirkendall South only a test can say.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Kirkendall South
Alerts for Kirkendall South 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 Kirkendall South 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 Kirkendall South
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirkendall South | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Kirkendall North 5,864 · 0.8 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Westdale South 4,931 · 1.4 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | Yes |
| Westcliffe East 2,832 · 1.5 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Durand 13,338 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Buchanan 3,006 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Strathcona 9,348 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | Yes |
Kirkendall South’s low band tops its neighbours; Kirkendall North is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Kirkendall South faces
Practical steps for Kirkendall South’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. Radon figures pool the survey’s home tests by area: postal areas once their boundaries arrive, the 2007 health region around Kirkendall South until then.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Kirkendall South’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Kirkendall South’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Kirkendall South without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Kirkendall South
Is Kirkendall South at risk of wildfire?
Hardly at all on record: 0% of the land within 25 km of Kirkendall South since 1986, a low band, though small grass fires aren’t mapped.
How big is the earthquake risk in Kirkendall South?
About $0.044 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Kirkendall South.
How is Kirkendall South’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Kirkendall South B+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is radon a problem in Kirkendall South?
5% of the 100 homes Health Canada tested around Kirkendall South topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
Does Kirkendall South flood?
No study on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory covers Kirkendall South (0), which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped, so ask the municipality.
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).