Photo: Commodore Gandalf Cunningham · CC BY 2.0Hazard risk in Purpleville is lower than in 90% of Canadian towns
The national fire record shows next to nothing around Purpleville, 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.000% a year). Shaking is about as much of a worry in Purpleville as in most places, at $0.028 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). In Health Canada’s survey, just 0% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Purpleville a grade of A, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Purpleville’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Purpleville: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Purpleville faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Purpleville grades A for hazard risk
For Purpleville, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
Its place: #74 of 866 in Ontario and #383 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Little of the land around Purpleville has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Purpleville’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
At 0.000% of the land a year, Purpleville’s burn rate is in the low band; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Forest fuel is spread evenly around Purpleville: 5.3% within 5 km, 5.3% 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
Near-zero burning puts Purpleville with 638 of the 871 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.
92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are in the low band and 7.5% above it; Purpleville is among the many where the yearly burn rate rounds to zero.
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.
Purpleville is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Toronto Regional Conservation Authority
Flood studies whose area touches Purpleville, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
A 2021 study by Toronto Regional Conservation Authority covers Purpleville, and its map, not the inventory, shows the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto Floodline Consolidation | Toronto Regional Conservation Authority | 2021 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
69% of towns in Ontario have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Purpleville has one too.
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 Purpleville.
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.
Expected shaking damage in Purpleville: $0.028 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.
Purpleville’s $0.028 is close to the typical town’s $0.030 (0.9 times as much).
For earthquake risk, the only official count covers all of the city of Vaughan, Purpleville included.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Purpleville’s $0.028 sits under the median in Ontario, $0.043, and well under Alexandria’s $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.
Neither high nor low for Canada: 51% of the 2,611 towns expect more damage than Purpleville.
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 Purpleville’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).
0% of homes tested around Purpleville are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Purpleville’s area, at 0%, is below the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town, though any one home can still be high. Behind radon tests sits data gathered across the York Regional Health Unit, with Purpleville one part of it.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Fewer homes top the guideline around Purpleville (0%) than in the typical town in Ontario (4%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Under 5% puts Purpleville with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 63% have more high tests.
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.
The share describes the area, not a house: in Purpleville as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Purpleville
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Purpleville; 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 Purpleville, 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)
Hazards in the places around Purpleville
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purpleville | Low | $0.028 | 0% | Yes |
| Peace Village 14,598 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.028 | 0% | Yes |
| Vellore 39,490 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.028 | 0% | Yes |
| Teston 7,437 · 3.5 km | Low | $0.028 | 0% | Yes |
| Maple 20,122 · 3.6 km | Low | $0.028 | 0% | Yes |
| Hope 6,997 · 5.6 km | Low | $0.028 | 0% | Yes |
| Carrville Corners 13,004 · 5.6 km | Low | $0.028 | 0% | Yes |
Nowhere around Purpleville burns more: Peace Village, the closest rival, is low to its low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Purpleville faces
Practical steps for Purpleville’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
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Purpleville.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Purpleville’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Purpleville’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Purpleville is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Purpleville
How big is the earthquake risk in Purpleville?
About $0.028 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Purpleville.
Is Purpleville at risk of wildfire?
Hardly at all on record: 0% of the land within 25 km of Purpleville since 1986, a low band, though small grass fires aren’t mapped.
Does Purpleville flood?
There is flood mapping for Purpleville on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
How is Purpleville’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Purpleville A, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is radon a problem in Purpleville?
0% of the 95 homes Health Canada tested around Purpleville topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
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).