On hazards, Sandy Lake 88 comes out behind almost every Canadian town
Wildfire is Sandy Lake 88’s dominant hazard: 39% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, 1.07% a year. Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.006 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Radon is higher than usual: 14% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Sandy Lake 88 a grade of D−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Sandy Lake 88’s hazards
For Sandy Lake 88, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Sandy Lake 88 faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Sandy Lake 88: D−
Two inputs always count for Sandy Lake 88, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
A very high wildfire band for Sandy Lake 88: 12% within 5 km, 39% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Sandy Lake 88’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
At 1.07% of the land a year, Sandy Lake 88’s burn rate is very high, far beyond the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
Forest crowds in on Sandy Lake 88: 90% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, more than the 70% 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 872
Sandy Lake 88 has the highest burn rate of the 872 towns in Ontario, 1.07% a year; next is 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.
Few places in Canada burn like the land around Sandy Lake 88: the very high band holds 0.2% of the 2,610 towns.
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.
No flood study is listed for Sandy Lake 88
Flood studies whose area touches Sandy Lake 88, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists no study whose area touches Sandy Lake 88, which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped.
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Ontario reaches 69% of towns, beside 58% across Canada, but not Sandy Lake 88.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Nothing here counts toward Risk; the studies are pointers to the maps their owners keep for Sandy Lake 88.
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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Sandy Lake 88 just $0.006 per $1,000 a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
0.2 times the typical $0.030: Sandy Lake 88’s $0.006 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in Ontario expects $0.043 a year in shaking damage; Sandy Lake 88 expects less, $0.006, 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.
Sandy Lake 88 is in the lower part of Canada’s range for earthquake risk; 88% of the 2,611 towns are higher.
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 Sandy Lake 88 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).
14% of homes tested around Sandy Lake 88 are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Radon runs above the typical Canadian town (6.6%) in Sandy Lake 88’s area, at 14%. Figures for radon tests are published for the Northwestern Health Unit as a whole, not for Sandy Lake 88 alone.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
More homes top the guideline around Sandy Lake 88 (14%) than in the typical town in Ontario (4%); 1.9% went over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Sandy Lake 88 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.
Health Canada advises testing every home, Sandy Lake 88’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Sandy Lake 88
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Sandy Lake 88; 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for Sandy Lake 88 come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what Sandy Lake 88 faces
What to do about the hazards Sandy Lake 88 faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- 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.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- How close is the forest edge?
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Sandy Lake 88.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Sandy Lake 88 takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Wildfire counts one way. Burned land within 25 km of where people live, averaged over 1986–2025 and checked for fuel near homes, is the measure; it looks back, not ahead, and only ever counts against Sandy Lake 88.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Sandy Lake 88’s included.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Sandy Lake 88
Is Sandy Lake 88 at risk of wildfire?
More than most Canadian towns; Sandy Lake 88’s very high band rests on 39% of nearby land burned since 1986 (most recently 2025).
How is Sandy Lake 88’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Sandy Lake 88 D−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is radon a problem in Sandy Lake 88?
Around Sandy Lake 88, 210 survey homes were tested and 14% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Does Sandy Lake 88 flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Sandy Lake 88’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
How big is the earthquake risk in Sandy Lake 88?
Expected earthquake damage in Sandy Lake 88 comes to $0.006 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
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).