Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Sagamok’s hazards at a glance: a low wildfire record and 8.6% of area homes over the radon guideline
The burned-area map is nearly blank around Sagamok, 0% within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.008 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. Sagamok grades A− for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Sagamok’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Sagamok: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Sagamok faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Sagamok: A−
For Sagamok, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
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 Sagamok has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Sagamok’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low: the land around Sagamok burns at 0.000% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Forest fuel covers 34% of the land close to Sagamok and 41% across 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 872
Near-zero burning puts Sagamok with 639 of the 872 towns in Ontario, far below Sioux Lookout 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.
The low band holds 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, and Sagamok sits at its very bottom; only 7.5% are above it.
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 Sagamok
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Sagamok: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
No flood study on the national inventory covers Sagamok; ask the municipality, which is the authority for its flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
69% of towns in Ontario have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Sagamok is not yet one of them.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Sagamok floods.
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.”
Low seismic risk in Sagamok: $0.008 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Shaking costs the typical town $0.030 a year; in Sagamok it is only $0.008, 0.3 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.008, Sagamok is below the typical town 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.
Earthquakes cost less around Sagamok than in 87% of Canada’s 2,611 towns.
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 Sagamok’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 about average around Sagamok: 8.6% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
8.6% of tested homes around Sagamok were over the guideline, much like the typical Canadian town at 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Sagamok, 8.6% of tests were over 200 Bq/m³ and 1.1% over 600, against a median of 4% in Ontario.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Between 5% and 10% of tests over the guideline: Sagamok, and 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% 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.
One home in Sagamok 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). · Radon tests published for the The District of Algoma Health Unit, not by town
Weather and fire alerts for Sagamok
Alerts for Sagamok 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. |
Evacuation orders for Sagamok come from the municipality or the province, while CWFIS maps fire danger every day.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Sagamok’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sagamok | Low | $0.008 | 8.6% | None listed |
| Sables-Spanish Rivers 3,412 · 15 km | Low | $0.010 | 5.2% | None listed |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around Sagamok (low), with Sables-Spanish Rivers next at low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Sagamok faces
Practical steps for Sagamok’s hazards, most pressing first.
- 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 Sagamok without grading them.
- 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 Sagamok’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Sagamok’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- 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 Sagamok until then.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Sagamok
How big is the earthquake risk in Sagamok?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Sagamok’s buildings lose $0.008 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is Sagamok at risk of wildfire?
Very little by the national record: Sagamok’s band is low, with 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
Is radon a problem in Sagamok?
The area’s survey found 8.6% of 93 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Sagamok.
How is Sagamok’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Sagamok A−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does Sagamok flood?
The inventory has 0 studies for Sagamok, and an empty list isn’t a clean bill: the municipality holds any flood maps.
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).