Photo: (c) Andrew Murray, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY 4.0Talbot faces fewer hazards than 90% of Canadian towns
Wildfire isn’t Talbot’s worry: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (0.000% a year). Shaking is about as much of a worry in Talbot as in most places, at $0.020 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Radon is lower than usual: 1.8% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Talbot grades A for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Talbot’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Talbot: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Talbot faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Talbot grades A for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Talbot, 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. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Wildfire is rare near Talbot: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Talbot’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Fire claims 0.000% of the land around Talbot each year, a low band, with the typical Canadian town at 0.000%.
Land that isn’t forest covers nearly all the ground around Talbot: forest fuel is 0.8% within 5 km and 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 Talbot 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.
Like most of Canada’s 2,610 towns (92%), Talbot is in the low band, with a burn rate of zero to three decimals; 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 Talbot
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Talbot: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
No flood study on the national inventory covers Talbot; 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 Talbot.
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 Talbot’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 Talbot: $0.020 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.020 per $1,000, Talbot’s earthquake risk is about the typical Canadian town’s ($0.030; 0.7 times).
For earthquake risk, the only official count covers all of the city of London, Talbot included.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in Ontario expects $0.043 a year in shaking damage; Talbot 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.
Talbot sits mid-range among Canada’s 2,611 towns: 64% expect more shaking damage.
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 model counts damage to Talbot’s buildings and their occupants from shaking only: not liquefaction, landslides, tsunami or fires after a quake.
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 Talbot: 1.8% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Radon tests for the Middlesex-London Health Unit
Talbot’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
Talbot’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 Talbot; 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 Talbot 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 Talbot
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Talbot; 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 Talbot, 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)
How Talbot’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Talbot | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| Westmount 19,591 · 2.3 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| Lambeth 2,609 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| Bostwick 7,694 · 3.1 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | Yes |
| Byron 15,277 · 3.5 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| Southcrest 14,477 · 4.3 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
| Highland 19,963 · 4.7 km | Low | $0.020 | 1.8% | None listed |
Talbot’s low band tops its neighbours; Westmount is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Talbot faces
What to do about the hazards Talbot 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 Talbot’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- 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 Talbot sits in.
- 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 Talbot floods.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Talbot’s figure is its subdivision’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Talbot
Does Talbot flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Talbot’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
How is Talbot’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Talbot’s Hazard risk grade is A, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
How big is the earthquake risk in Talbot?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Talbot’s buildings lose $0.020 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in Talbot?
Around Talbot, 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 Talbot at risk of wildfire?
Very little by the national record: Talbot’s band is low, with 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, so wildfire doesn’t change its 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).