Macassa’s hazards at a glance: a low wildfire record and 5% of area homes over the radon guideline
Since 1986 almost nothing has burned near Macassa: 0% of the land within 25 km, or 0.000% a year. NRCan expects $0.044 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in Macassa, near the typical $0.030. Hazard risk gives Macassa a grade of B+, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Macassa’s hazards
For Macassa, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Macassa faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Macassa: B+
Earthquake risk and radon make Macassa’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
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 Macassa has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Macassa’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Low: the land around Macassa burns at 0.000% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Forest makes up 0.2% of the land within 5 km of Macassa and 1% within 25 km, little for a forest fire to run through.
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
Near-zero burning puts Macassa with 638 of the 871 towns in Ontario, far below Sioux Lookout 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%), Macassa 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 Macassa
Flood studies whose area touches Macassa, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
No flood study on the national inventory covers Macassa; ask the municipality, which is the authority for its flood maps.
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 Macassa.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Macassa floods.
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.”
Expected shaking damage in Macassa: $0.044 a year per $1,000
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
At $0.044 per $1,000, Macassa’s earthquake risk is about the typical Canadian town’s ($0.030; 1.5 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Neither high nor low in Ontario: Macassa’s $0.044 sits by the median of $0.043, while Alexandria reaches $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 Macassa.
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).
What a quake does after the shaking, fire, landslides, tsunami, falls outside NRCan’s figure for Macassa.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean). · Area behind the earthquake risk figures: the city of Hamilton
5% of homes tested around Macassa are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Measured across the City of Hamilton Health Unit: radon tests
Macassa’s area, at 5%, 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 Macassa (5%) 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.
Between 5% and 10% of tests over the guideline: Macassa, and 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% are higher.
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.
Neighbouring homes in Macassa can differ a lot; only a long-term test tells you about yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Macassa
Alerts for Macassa 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. |
Alert Ready carries evacuation orders for Macassa to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Macassa
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Macassa | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Hampton Heights 3,498 · 0.4 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Burkholme 3,580 · 0.9 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Raleigh 7,113 · 1.0 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Lawfield 6,021 · 1.3 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Eastmount 4,496 · 1.5 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Berrisfield 3,773 · 1.5 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | Yes |
Macassa’s low band tops its neighbours; Hampton Heights is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Macassa faces
Practical steps for Macassa’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
- Wildfire counts one way. Burned land within 25 km of where people live, averaged over 1986–2025 and checked for fuel near homes, is the measure; it looks back, not ahead, and only ever counts against Macassa.
- 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 Macassa floods.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Macassa’s included.
- 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 Macassa sits in.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Macassa
Is Macassa at risk of wildfire?
The burned-area record shows next to nothing around Macassa (0% within 25 km since 1986), so its band is low.
Is radon a problem in Macassa?
The area’s survey found 5% of 100 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Macassa.
How is Macassa’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Macassa’s Hazard risk grade is B+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Does Macassa flood?
The inventory has 0 studies for Macassa, and an empty list isn’t a clean bill: the municipality holds any flood maps.
How big is the earthquake risk in Macassa?
Expected earthquake damage in Macassa comes to $0.044 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
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).