Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0A flood study covers LaSalle: 1 on the national inventory, the newest from Essex Region Conservation Authority / County of Essex
Fire seldom reaches LaSalle: since 1986, 0.1% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.006% a year). For earthquakes LaSalle is middling, $0.018 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. More homes than usual carry radon here, 14% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. LaSalle grades C+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about LaSalle’s hazards
For LaSalle, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What LaSalle faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in LaSalle: C+
For LaSalle, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
Its place: #677 of 866 in Ontario and #1,856 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 LaSalle has burned: 0.8% within 5 km, 0.1% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where LaSalle’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Low by Canadian standards: 0.006% of the land a year around LaSalle, 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
With 0.7% forest fuel within 5 km and 0.4% within 25 km, the land around LaSalle 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
Sioux Lookout burns fastest in Ontario at 0.16% a year; LaSalle, at 0.006%, ranks 39th 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.
The low band takes in 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, LaSalle among them, though its rate is above zero; 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.
Essex Region Conservation Authority / County of Essex has mapped flooding for LaSalle (1 study)
Flood studies whose area touches LaSalle, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Essex Region Conservation Authority / County of Essex studied flooding in an area that includes LaSalle (2024); open its map to see which streets lie in a flood zone.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essex Region | Essex Region Conservation Authority / County of Essex | 2024 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study puts LaSalle with 69% of towns in Ontario; Canada’s share is 58%.
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 LaSalle 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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Earthquakes cost buildings in LaSalle $0.018 per $1,000 a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
LaSalle’s $0.018 is close to the typical town’s $0.030 (0.6 times as much).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
LaSalle’s $0.018 sits under the median in Ontario, $0.043, and well under 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.
Most of Canada’s 2,611 towns (68%) face more earthquake damage than LaSalle.
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 LaSalle 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).
14% of homes tested around LaSalle are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
A higher share than most: 14% of tested homes around LaSalle, the typical Canadian town 6.6%. Nobody publishes radon tests for LaSalle alone, so this card uses the figure for the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around LaSalle, 14% of tests were over 200 Bq/m³ and 1% over 600, against a median of 4% in Ontario.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
More high tests than most: LaSalle sits in a band that only 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns share, with 4.6% 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.
Health Canada advises testing every home, LaSalle’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in LaSalle
Alerts for LaSalle 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. |
Evacuation orders for LaSalle come from the municipality or the province, while CWFIS maps fire danger every day.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How LaSalle’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LaSalle | Low | $0.018 | 14% | Yes |
| South Windsor 15,896 · 5.2 km | Low | $0.019 | 14% | Yes |
| South Cameron 11,804 · 6.2 km | Low | $0.019 | 14% | None listed |
| Sandwich 14,110 · 6.2 km | Low | $0.019 | 14% | Yes |
| Roseland 20,587 · 6.5 km | Low | $0.019 | 14% | Yes |
| Remington Park 5,783 · 8.1 km | Low | $0.019 | 14% | None listed |
| Devonshire 9,852 · 8.1 km | Low | $0.019 | 14% | Yes |
South Cameron burns a little more than LaSalle, in the same low band (low here).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what LaSalle faces
Practical steps for LaSalle’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?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- 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 LaSalle.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, LaSalle’s included.
- 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 LaSalle floods.
- 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 LaSalle sits in.
Questions about flooding and hazards in LaSalle
Is LaSalle at risk of wildfire?
Some, but LaSalle’s low band (0.1% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2010) is short of the level that counts.
Does LaSalle flood?
LaSalle’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
How is LaSalle’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives LaSalle C+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
How big is the earthquake risk in LaSalle?
About $0.018 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for LaSalle.
Is radon a problem in LaSalle?
The area’s survey found 14% of 195 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in LaSalle.
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).