Photo: Jfvoll · CC BY-SA 4.0Few places are as safe from hazards as Argyle: it beats 90% of Canadian towns
For Argyle, wildfire history is close to nil: 0% of nearby land since 1986, 0.000% a year. NRCan expects $0.020 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in Argyle, near the typical $0.030. In Health Canada’s survey, just 1.8% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Argyle grades A for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Argyle’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Argyle: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Argyle faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Argyle grades A for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Argyle with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #43 of 866 in Ontario and #347 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.
Little of the land around Argyle has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Argyle’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Argyle burns at 0.000% a year, low against 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Only 0.5% of the land within 25 km of Argyle is forest fuel, and 0.8% 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
Near-zero burning puts Argyle 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.
Measured against 2,610 towns, Argyle is in the largest group, low (92%), and at its floor, while 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 Argyle
Flood studies whose area touches Argyle, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
No flood study on the national inventory covers Argyle; ask the municipality, which is the authority for its flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Missing from a well-mapped province: Argyle has no study, where 69% of towns in Ontario have one against 58% nationally.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Argyle’s homes are at risk.
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 Argyle: $0.020 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.
Argyle’s $0.020 is close to the typical town’s $0.030 (0.7 times as much).
Behind earthquake risk sits data gathered across the city of London, with Argyle one part of it.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Ontario peaks in Alexandria ($0.21); Argyle, at $0.020, is below the median of $0.043.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Around half of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Argyle (64%).
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 Argyle’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).
Radon runs low around Argyle: 1.8% of tested homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
A lower share than most: 1.8% of tested homes around Argyle, the typical Canadian town 6.6%. Figures for radon tests are published for the Middlesex-London Health Unit as a whole, not for Argyle alone.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Argyle’s area, at 1.8%, 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.
The quietest radon band, under 5%, holds 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns and Argyle; 63% sit 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.
One home in Argyle can be high while next door is low; a three-month test settles it.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Argyle
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Argyle; 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 Argyle, 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)
Hazards in the places around Argyle
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argyle | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| Hamilton Road 15,283 · 2.9 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| East London 10,972 · 3.7 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| Jackson 8,124 · 4.2 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| Huron Heights 20,890 · 4.6 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| Glen Cairn 16,119 · 5.0 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| Carling 21,536 · 5.6 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
Nowhere around Argyle burns more: Hamilton Road, the closest rival, is low to its low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Argyle faces
What to do about the hazards Argyle 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
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Argyle’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 Argyle without grading them.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Argyle’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- 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 Argyle until then.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Argyle
Does Argyle flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Argyle’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
How is Argyle’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Argyle’s Hazard risk grade is A, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
How big is the earthquake risk in Argyle?
About $0.020 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Argyle.
Is radon a problem in Argyle?
Around Argyle, 110 survey homes were tested and 1.8% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Is Argyle at risk of wildfire?
No meaningful wildfire history near Argyle: 0% of nearby land since 1986, band low.
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).