Turnball’s hazards at a glance: a low wildfire record and 5% of area homes over the radon guideline
Fire has left almost no mark near Turnball: 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. Seismic risk in Turnball sits near the middle: $0.044 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Hazard risk gives Turnball a grade of B+, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Turnball’s hazards
For Turnball, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Turnball faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Turnball: B+
The grade weighs Turnball’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
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.
Wildfire is rare near Turnball: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Turnball’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The land within 25 km of Turnball burns at 0.000% a year on average, the low band; the typical Canadian town: 0.000%.
Only 2.9% of the land within 25 km of Turnball is forest fuel, and 2.4% close in.
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
Sioux Lookout has the highest burn rate in Ontario, 0.16% a year; around Turnball, as around 638 of the 871 towns, it rounds to zero.
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.
The low band holds 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, and Turnball sits at its very bottom; only 7.5% are above it.
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 Turnball
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Turnball: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Nationally, Turnball has no listed flood study; the municipality is the place to ask.
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Ontario reaches 69% of towns, beside 58% across Canada, but not Turnball.
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 Turnball 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.”
Expected shaking damage in Turnball: $0.044 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.044 per $1,000, Turnball’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
The median in Ontario is $0.043; Turnball, at $0.044, is right beside it, and Alexandria tops the list 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.
Turnball sits above most of Canada’s 2,611 towns on earthquake risk; 32% are higher.
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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Turnball is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean). · Earthquake risk: one figure for all of the city of Hamilton
Radon about average around Turnball: 5% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Around Turnball, 5% of tested homes topped the guideline, near the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Turnball shares its radon tests numbers with the rest of the City of Hamilton Health Unit.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs higher around Turnball than in most towns in Ontario: 5% against 4%.
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 Turnball’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.
Whatever Turnball’s area share, the reading that matters is your own home’s, over a winter.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Turnball
Alerts for Turnball 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 Turnball 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 Turnball
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turnball | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Golf Course 3,741 · 0.8 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Central Business Dis 6,127 · 2.7 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Sulphur Springs 9,404 · 2.9 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Colborne 7,447 · 3.1 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | Yes |
| Ainslie Wood West 3,917 · 3.5 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| York Road 4,931 · 4.3 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | Yes |
The neighbour with the most fire is Golf Course (low), still no more than Turnball (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Turnball faces
What to do about the hazards Turnball 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. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Turnball’s included.
- 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 Turnball until then.
- 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 Turnball.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Turnball without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Turnball
How is Turnball’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Turnball’s Hazard risk grade is B+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
How big is the earthquake risk in Turnball?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Turnball’s buildings lose $0.044 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Does Turnball flood?
Nothing is listed for Turnball on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
Is radon a problem in Turnball?
In Health Canada’s survey, 5% of 100 homes tested in Turnball’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Is Turnball at risk of wildfire?
Very little by the national record: Turnball’s band is low, with 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
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).