Photo: JFVoll · CC BY-SA 4.0Few places are as safe from hazards as Hamilton Road: it beats 90% of Canadian towns
Wildfire barely registers for Hamilton Road, at 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.000% a year). Shaking is about as much of a worry in Hamilton Road as in most places, at $0.020 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). In Health Canada’s survey, just 1.8% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hamilton Road grades A for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Hamilton Road’s hazards
For Hamilton Road, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Hamilton Road faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hamilton Road grades A for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Hamilton Road 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: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Wildfire is rare near Hamilton Road: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Hamilton Road’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low: the land around Hamilton Road burns at 0.000% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Around Hamilton Road the forest is thin or far off: 0.2% of the land within 5 km and 0.5% within 25 km is forest fuel.
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
Little or nothing burns around Hamilton Road in a typical year; 638 of the 871 towns in Ontario share that, and Sioux Lookout leads 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, Hamilton Road 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.
No flood study is listed for Hamilton Road
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Hamilton Road: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
NRCan’s inventory is silent on Hamilton Road, so any flood map would be the municipality’s own.
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 Hamilton Road.
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 Hamilton Road 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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Hamilton Road $0.020 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
With $0.020 of shaking damage a year per $1,000, Hamilton Road is about even with the typical $0.030 (0.7 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in Ontario expects $0.043 a year in shaking damage; Hamilton Road expects less, $0.020, and Alexandria the most, $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.
Around half of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Hamilton Road (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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Hamilton Road 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 London
Radon runs low around Hamilton Road: 1.8% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Hamilton Road’s area, at 1.8%, is below the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town, though any one home can still be high.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs lower around Hamilton Road than in most towns in Ontario: 1.8% against 4%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Hamilton Road 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.
A low area share in Hamilton Road doesn’t clear a house, nor does a high one condemn it: test.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the Middlesex-London Health Unit
Where to get warnings in Hamilton Road
Alerts for Hamilton Road 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 Hamilton Road 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)
How Hamilton Road’s neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hamilton Road | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| Glen Cairn 16,119 · 2.1 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| East London 10,972 · 2.3 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| Jackson 8,124 · 2.8 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| Argyle 28,109 · 2.9 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| Westminster 10,794 · 4.2 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| Central London 19,363 · 4.4 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
Nowhere around Hamilton Road burns more: Glen Cairn, 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 Hamilton Road faces
What to do about the hazards Hamilton Road 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. 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 Hamilton Road.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Hamilton Road takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Hamilton Road’s included.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Hamilton Road.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Hamilton Road
How is Hamilton Road’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hamilton Road’s Hazard risk grade is A, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is radon a problem in Hamilton Road?
In Health Canada’s survey, 1.8% of 110 homes tested in Hamilton Road’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Is Hamilton Road at risk of wildfire?
The burned-area record shows next to nothing around Hamilton Road (0% within 25 km since 1986), so its band is low.
How big is the earthquake risk in Hamilton Road?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Hamilton Road’s buildings lose $0.020 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Does Hamilton Road flood?
Nothing is listed for Hamilton Road on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
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).