Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0North Algona Wilberforce’s hazards at a glance: a low wildfire record and 8% of area homes over the radon guideline
Fire has left almost no mark near North Algona Wilberforce: 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.001% a year. Earthquakes add more: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.096 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. North Algona Wilberforce grades C+ for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about North Algona Wilberforce’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for North Algona Wilberforce: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What North Algona Wilberforce faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
North Algona Wilberforce grades C+ for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for North Algona Wilberforce, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #679 of 866 in Ontario and #1,863 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 North Algona Wilberforce has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where North Algona Wilberforce’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Fire claims 0.001% of the land around North Algona Wilberforce each year, a low band, with the typical Canadian town at 0.000%.
Nothing inside 5 km of North Algona Wilberforce’s homes has burned since 1986, and the nearest scar is 18 km off.
The ring nearest North Algona Wilberforce is the most wooded: 39% forest fuel within 5 km against 30% 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
North Algona Wilberforce ranks 83rd of the 871 towns in Ontario for burn rate, at 0.001% a year; Sioux Lookout leads with 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.
North Algona Wilberforce is in the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 7.5% sit in moderate or 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 North Algona Wilberforce
Flood studies whose area touches North Algona Wilberforce, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
There is no study for North Algona Wilberforce on the national flood inventory, which is far from complete.
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Ontario reaches 69% of towns, beside 58% across Canada, but not North Algona Wilberforce.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for North Algona Wilberforce.
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.”
Shaking is North Algona Wilberforce’s costliest hazard: $0.096 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.
At $0.096 per $1,000, North Algona Wilberforce carries roughly 3.2 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Ontario peaks in Alexandria ($0.21); North Algona Wilberforce, at $0.096, sits above 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.
26% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than North Algona Wilberforce, which places it in the upper third.
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 North Algona Wilberforce’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).
Some radon around North Algona Wilberforce: 8% of area homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · The radon tests numbers here cover the Renfrew County and District Health Unit
At 8% over the guideline, the area around North Algona Wilberforce is about level with the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
North Algona Wilberforce’s area, at 8%, is above the median in Ontario (4%), and 1% of its tests passed 600 Bq/m³.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
26% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more homes over 200 Bq/m³ than North Algona Wilberforce’s 5–10% band, which holds 37%.
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 North Algona Wilberforce 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 North Algona Wilberforce
Alerts for North Algona Wilberforce 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. |
Alert Ready carries evacuation orders for North Algona Wilberforce to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around North Algona Wilberforce
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Algona Wilberforce | Low | $0.096 | 8% | None listed |
| Eganville 4,326 · 11 km | Low | $0.070 | 8% | None listed |
The neighbour with the most fire is Eganville (low), still no more than North Algona Wilberforce (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what North Algona Wilberforce faces
What to do about the hazards North Algona Wilberforce 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. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for North Algona Wilberforce without grading them.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; North Algona Wilberforce’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 North Algona Wilberforce until then.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around North Algona Wilberforce’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
Questions about flooding and hazards in North Algona Wilberforce
How is North Algona Wilberforce’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives North Algona Wilberforce C+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is North Algona Wilberforce at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of North Algona Wilberforce has burned since 1986, the last in 2025, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How big is the earthquake risk in North Algona Wilberforce?
Expected earthquake damage in North Algona Wilberforce comes to $0.096 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is radon a problem in North Algona Wilberforce?
In Health Canada’s survey, 8% of 100 homes tested in North Algona Wilberforce’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Does North Algona Wilberforce flood?
Nothing is listed for North Algona Wilberforce 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).