Photo: P. James Franks · CC BY-SA 3.0Wildfire low, radon 7.8%: how Temiskaming Shores stands on hazards
Fire seldom reaches Temiskaming Shores: since 1986, 0.1% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.002% a year). For earthquakes Temiskaming Shores is middling, $0.036 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Temiskaming Shores a grade of B; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Temiskaming Shores’s hazards
For Temiskaming Shores, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Temiskaming Shores faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Temiskaming Shores: B
The grade weighs Temiskaming Shores’ seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
Its place: #625 of 866 in Ontario and #1,436 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Few fires near Temiskaming Shores: 0.3% within 5 km, 0.1% within 25 km
Past fire around Temiskaming Shores’ homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low by Canadian standards: 0.002% of the land a year around Temiskaming Shores, 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Forest fuel covers 24% of the land close to Temiskaming Shores and 38% 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 871
The land around Temiskaming Shores burns at 0.002% a year, the 54th highest rate of 871 towns in Ontario; Sioux Lookout tops it 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.
7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns burn fast enough to rank moderate or above; Temiskaming Shores stays low, with 92%.
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 Temiskaming Shores
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Temiskaming Shores: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The inventory has nothing for Temiskaming Shores, but a local or conservation-authority map may still exist.
Towns with a flood study on file
Missing from a well-mapped province: Temiskaming Shores has no study, where 69% of towns in Ontario have one against 58% nationally.
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 Temiskaming Shores.
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 Temiskaming Shores: $0.036 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
1.2 times the typical $0.030: Temiskaming Shores’ $0.036 is ordinary.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The median in Ontario is $0.043; Temiskaming Shores, at $0.036, is right beside it, and Alexandria tops the list 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.
Temiskaming Shores sits mid-range among Canada’s 2,611 towns: 46% expect more shaking damage.
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).
What a quake does after the shaking, fire, landslides, tsunami, falls outside NRCan’s figure for Temiskaming Shores.
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 Temiskaming Shores: 7.8% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Near the middle for radon: Temiskaming Shores’ area 7.8%, the typical Canadian town 6.6%. For radon tests, the only official count covers all of the Timiskaming Health Unit, Temiskaming Shores included.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Temiskaming Shores, 7.8% of tests were over 200 Bq/m³ and 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.
26% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Temiskaming Shores’ 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.
Health Canada advises testing every home, Temiskaming Shores’ included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Temiskaming Shores
Alerts for Temiskaming Shores 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 Temiskaming Shores to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Temiskaming Shores’ neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temiskaming Shores | Low | $0.036 | 7.8% | None listed |
| Saint-Bruno-de-Guigues 1,197 · 14 km | Low | $0.034 | 4.3% | None listed |
| Notre-Dame-du-Nord 1,081 · 19 km | Low | $0.041 | 4.3% | None listed |
Temiskaming Shores’ low band tops its neighbours; Saint-Bruno-de-Guigues is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Temiskaming Shores faces
What to do about the hazards Temiskaming Shores 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
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Temiskaming Shores’ included.
- 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 Temiskaming Shores.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Temiskaming Shores 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 Temiskaming Shores until then.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Temiskaming Shores
How is Temiskaming Shores’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Temiskaming Shores grades B for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is Temiskaming Shores at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0.1% of the land within 25 km of Temiskaming Shores has burned since 1986, the last in 2025, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How big is the earthquake risk in Temiskaming Shores?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Temiskaming Shores’ buildings lose $0.036 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Does Temiskaming Shores flood?
Nothing is listed for Temiskaming Shores on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
Is radon a problem in Temiskaming Shores?
In Health Canada’s survey, 7.8% of 103 homes tested in Temiskaming Shores’ area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
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).