Photo: Robert Taylor from Stirling, ON, Canada · CC BY 2.0Stirling is on Canada’s flood inventory: 2 listed, led by Lower Trent Conservation
For Stirling, wildfire history is close to nil: 0% of nearby land since 1986, 0.000% a year. Earthquake risk in Stirling is ordinary: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.034 a year per $1,000 of value, close to the typical town’s $0.030. In Health Canada’s survey, 12% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Stirling grades C+ for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Stirling’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Stirling: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Stirling faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Stirling grades C+ for hazard risk
Seismic risk and radon set Stirling’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of it.
Its place: #821 of 866 in Ontario and #2,046 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.
Few fires near Stirling: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Stirling’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low by Canadian standards: 0.000% of the land a year around Stirling, 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Near or far, forest fuel covers a similar share around Stirling: 9.7% within 5 km and 12% 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
Of the 871 towns in Ontario, 638 have a burn rate that rounds to zero, Stirling 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.
Stirling 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.
2 flood studies cover Stirling, the newest from Lower Trent Conservation
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Stirling: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Lower Trent Conservation and others have studied flooding in areas that include Stirling: 2 studies, the latest from 2024.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rawdon Creek Floodplain Mapping Update | Lower Trent Conservation | 2024 | final |
| Lower Trent River | Lower Trent Region Conservation Authority | 2024 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Ontario reaches 69% of towns, Stirling included, beside 58% across Canada.
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 Stirling’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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Stirling $0.034 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Stirling’s $0.034 is close to the typical town’s $0.030 (1.1 times as much).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.034, Stirling 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.
Middle of the pack: 46% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more earthquake risk than Stirling.
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 loss is to Stirling’s buildings alone, from ground shaking; infrastructure and secondary hazards are left out.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon runs high around Stirling: 12% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
the typical Canadian town has 6.6% over the guideline; Stirling’s area has 12%. Stirling shares its radon tests numbers with the rest of the Hastings and Prince Edward Counties Health Unit.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Stirling’s area, at 12%, is above the median in Ontario (4%), and 2% 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.
The 10–20% band holds 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, Stirling among them; 4.6% rank above.
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 Stirling 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 Stirling
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Stirling; 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 Stirling, 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 Stirling’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stirling | Low | $0.034 | 12% | Yes |
| Campbellford 15,103 · 19 km | Low | $0.029 | 6.1% | Yes |
The neighbour with the most fire is Campbellford (low), still no more than Stirling (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Stirling faces
Practical steps for Stirling’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?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- 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 Stirling’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Stirling without grading them.
- 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 Stirling until then.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Stirling’s figure is its subdivision’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Stirling
Is radon a problem in Stirling?
12% of the 99 homes Health Canada tested around Stirling topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
How is Stirling’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Stirling C+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is Stirling at risk of wildfire?
No meaningful wildfire history near Stirling: 0% of nearby land since 1986, band low.
How big is the earthquake risk in Stirling?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Stirling’s buildings lose $0.034 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Does Stirling flood?
A flood study covers Stirling on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
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).