Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Iroquois Falls faces few natural hazards: little fire nearby, low seismic risk, radon over the guideline in 1% of tested homes
Burn scars are few around Iroquois Falls, with 0.9% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.02% a year). NRCan expects $0.037 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in Iroquois Falls, near the typical $0.030. Hazard risk gives Iroquois Falls a grade of A−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Iroquois Falls’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Iroquois Falls: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Iroquois Falls faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Iroquois Falls grades A− for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Iroquois Falls with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #234 of 866 in Ontario and #583 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 Iroquois Falls: 0% within 5 km, 0.9% within 25 km
Past fire around Iroquois Falls’ homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low: the land around Iroquois Falls burns at 0.02% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Iroquois Falls’ homes have had no fire within 5 km since 1986; the closest was 8.5 km away.
Forest fuel covers 32% of the land close to Iroquois Falls and 61% across 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 871
Sioux Lookout burns fastest in Ontario at 0.16% a year; Iroquois Falls, at 0.02%, ranks 16th of 871.
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.
Some fire is mapped around Iroquois Falls, but not enough to leave the low band, where 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are; 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 Iroquois Falls
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Iroquois Falls: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
No flood study on the national inventory covers Iroquois Falls; ask the municipality, which is the authority for its flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Iroquois Falls has no flood study on file, though 69% of towns in Ontario do (Canada: 58%).
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Nothing here counts toward Risk; the studies are pointers to the maps their owners keep for Iroquois Falls.
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 Iroquois Falls: $0.037 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
With $0.037 of shaking damage a year per $1,000, Iroquois Falls is about even with the typical $0.030 (1.2 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Iroquois Falls’ $0.037 is close to the median in Ontario, $0.043; Alexandria is highest 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.
Middle of the pack: 45% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more earthquake risk than Iroquois Falls.
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 loss is to Iroquois Falls’ buildings alone, from ground shaking; infrastructure and secondary hazards are left out.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
1% of homes tested around Iroquois Falls are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the Porcupine Health Unit: radon tests
Fewer homes than usual test high around Iroquois Falls: 1% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Iroquois Falls’ area, at 1%, is below the median in Ontario (4%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Iroquois Falls is in the lowest band, with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns: under 5% of tests over the guideline, while 63% 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.
The survey sampled homes around Iroquois Falls; it can’t tell you your basement’s level.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Iroquois Falls
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Iroquois Falls; 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. |
For fires near Iroquois Falls, the national fire information system maps danger and active fires daily; local authorities give any evacuation order.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what Iroquois Falls faces
What to do about the hazards Iroquois Falls 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. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Iroquois Falls’ figure is its subdivision’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Iroquois Falls’ homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- 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 Iroquois Falls until then.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Iroquois Falls without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Iroquois Falls
How big is the earthquake risk in Iroquois Falls?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Iroquois Falls’ buildings lose $0.037 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Does Iroquois Falls flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Iroquois Falls’ flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
How is Iroquois Falls’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Iroquois Falls grades A− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is radon a problem in Iroquois Falls?
Around Iroquois Falls, 96 survey homes were tested and 1% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Is Iroquois Falls at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0.9% of the land around Iroquois Falls since 1986 (last in 2010); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the 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).