Photo: Shhewitt · CC0Wildfire low, radon 11%: how Loyalist stands on hazards
No wildfire is mapped within 25 km of Loyalist’s homes since 1986 (0% of the land, 0.000% a year). For earthquakes Loyalist is middling, $0.044 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. Loyalist grades C for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Loyalist’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Loyalist: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Loyalist faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Loyalist: C
The grade weighs Loyalist’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
Its place: #837 of 866 in Ontario and #2,075 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 Loyalist has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Loyalist’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Fire claims 0.000% of the land around Loyalist each year, a low band, with the typical Canadian town at 0.000%.
About as much forest grows next to Loyalist’s homes (13% within 5 km) as across 25 km (12%).
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
Of the 871 towns in Ontario, 638 have a burn rate that rounds to zero, Loyalist among them; Sioux Lookout leads at 0.16% a year.
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.
Loyalist shares the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, its burn rate rounding to nothing; 7.5% burn faster.
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 Loyalist
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Loyalist: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Nationally, Loyalist has no listed flood study; the municipality is the place to ask.
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Ontario reaches 69% of towns, beside 58% across Canada, but not Loyalist.
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 Loyalist 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.”
Expected shaking damage in Loyalist: $0.044 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Loyalist’s $0.044 is close to the typical town’s $0.030 (1.5 times as much).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Loyalist’s $0.044 is close to the median in Ontario, $0.043; Alexandria is highest at $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.
In the upper part of Canada’s range: 32% of its 2,611 towns expect more damage than Loyalist.
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 Loyalist’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).
11% of homes tested around Loyalist are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Radon runs above the typical Canadian town (6.6%) in Loyalist’s area, at 11%. Nobody publishes radon tests for Loyalist alone, so this card uses the figure for the Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox and Addington Health Unit.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs higher around Loyalist than in most towns in Ontario: 11% over the guideline (4% is typical), 1% over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Loyalist is in the 10–20% band, with 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; only 4.6% are 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.
A survey sample isn’t a map: any home in Loyalist can be high, and a three-month test is the only way to know.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Loyalist
Alerts for Loyalist 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 Loyalist 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 Loyalist’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loyalist | Low | $0.044 | 11% | None listed |
| Kingston 149,527 · 13 km | Low | $0.044 | 11% | Yes |
The neighbour with the most fire is Kingston (low), still no more than Loyalist (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Loyalist faces
What to do about the hazards Loyalist 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 Loyalist floods.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Loyalist’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as Loyalist’s.
- 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 Loyalist sits in.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Loyalist
Is radon a problem in Loyalist?
Around Loyalist, 99 survey homes were tested and 11% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Does Loyalist flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Loyalist’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
Is Loyalist at risk of wildfire?
Hardly at all on record: 0% of the land within 25 km of Loyalist since 1986, a low band, though small grass fires aren’t mapped.
How is Loyalist’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Loyalist grades C for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Loyalist?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Loyalist’s buildings lose $0.044 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
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).