Lambeth faces fewer hazards than 90% of Canadian towns
Fire has left almost no mark near Lambeth: 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. For earthquakes Lambeth is middling, $0.020 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. In Health Canada’s survey, just 1.8% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Lambeth grades A for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Lambeth’s hazards
For Lambeth, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Lambeth faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Lambeth grades A for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Lambeth, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
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. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Little of the land around Lambeth has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Lambeth’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Forty years of fire maps put Lambeth at 0.000% a year, low next to the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
Forest fuel is scarce around Lambeth: 0.4% of the land within 5 km, 0.4% within 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
Little or nothing burns around Lambeth 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.
92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are in the low band and 7.5% above it; Lambeth is among the many where the yearly burn rate rounds to zero.
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 Lambeth
Flood studies whose area touches Lambeth, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
No flood study on the national inventory covers Lambeth; ask the municipality, which is the authority for its flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Ontario reaches 69% of towns, beside 58% across Canada, but not Lambeth.
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 Lambeth 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.”
Ordinary seismic risk in Lambeth: $0.020 per $1,000 of buildings a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
0.7 times the typical $0.030: Lambeth’s $0.020 is ordinary.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Below the middle in Ontario: Lambeth’s $0.020 against a median of $0.043; Alexandria has $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 Lambeth (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 Lambeth 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: the city of London
Little radon around Lambeth: 1.8% of area homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
At 1.8% over the guideline, the area around Lambeth is under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The median in Ontario is 4% over 200 Bq/m³; around Lambeth it is 1.8%.
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 Lambeth; 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.
Health Canada advises testing every home, Lambeth’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: one figure for all of the Middlesex-London Health Unit
Where to get warnings in Lambeth
Alerts for Lambeth 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 Lambeth 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 Lambeth’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lambeth | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| Talbot 8,085 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| Bostwick 7,694 · 3.4 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | Yes |
| Westmount 19,591 · 4.4 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| White Oaks 21,108 · 5.5 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| Highland 19,963 · 5.6 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| Byron 15,277 · 5.8 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Lambeth (low); Talbot comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Lambeth faces
What to do about the hazards Lambeth 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
- 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 Lambeth 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 Lambeth sits in.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Lambeth’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Wildfire counts one way. For Lambeth, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Lambeth
Is radon a problem in Lambeth?
In Health Canada’s survey, 1.8% of 110 homes tested in Lambeth’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Does Lambeth flood?
Nothing is listed for Lambeth on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
Is Lambeth at risk of wildfire?
Hardly at all on record: 0% of the land within 25 km of Lambeth since 1986, a low band, though small grass fires aren’t mapped.
How is Lambeth’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Lambeth grades A for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Lambeth?
About $0.020 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Lambeth.
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).