Photo: Rub-a-dub Hedgehog · CC0Wildfire low, radon 7.5%: how West Lorne stands on hazards
For West Lorne, wildfire history is close to nil: 0% of nearby land since 1986, 0.000% a year. NRCan expects $0.020 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in West Lorne, near the typical $0.030. Hazard risk gives West Lorne a grade of B+, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about West Lorne’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for West Lorne: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What West Lorne faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in West Lorne: B+
Two inputs always count for West Lorne, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #460 of 866 in Ontario and #898 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 West Lorne: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around West Lorne’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Next to the typical Canadian town (0.000% a year), West Lorne’s 0.000% is in the low band.
Only 0.3% of the land within 25 km of West Lorne is forest fuel, and 0.3% close in.
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
Sioux Lookout has the highest burn rate in Ontario, 0.16% a year; around West Lorne, as around 638 of the 871 towns, it rounds to zero.
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.
Like most of Canada’s 2,610 towns (92%), West Lorne is in the low band, with a burn rate of zero to three decimals; 7.5% rank higher.
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 West Lorne
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for West Lorne: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
NRCan’s inventory is silent on West Lorne, so any flood map would be the municipality’s own.
Towns with a flood study on file
West Lorne has no flood study on file, though 69% of towns in Ontario do (Canada: 58%).
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 West Lorne.
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 West Lorne: $0.020 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
West Lorne’s $0.020 is close to the typical town’s $0.030 (0.7 times as much).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Below the middle in Ontario: West Lorne’s $0.020 against a median of $0.043; Alexandria has $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.
West Lorne sits mid-range among Canada’s 2,611 towns: 64% 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).
The loss is to West Lorne’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 about average around West Lorne: 7.5% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Source area for radon tests: the Elgin-St. Thomas Health Unit
The survey area of West Lorne reads 7.5%, a shade from the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
West Lorne’s area, at 7.5%, is above the median in Ontario (4%), and 1.1% 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.
A middling share of high tests puts West Lorne with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, below 26% of them.
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 West Lorne 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).
Weather and fire alerts for West Lorne
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for West Lorne; 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 West Lorne come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around West Lorne
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Lorne | Low | $0.020 | 7.5% | None listed |
| Dutton 4,686 · 14 km | Low | $0.020 | 7.5% | None listed |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than West Lorne (low); Dutton comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what West Lorne faces
What to do about the hazards West Lorne 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
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. A study’s area can be a whole watershed or province, so being on the inventory says a map exists, not that a home in West Lorne floods.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around West Lorne’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Radon is a survey. The radon share comes from about 14,000 long-term home tests in 2009–2011, pooled for now by the 2007 health region West Lorne sits in.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; West Lorne’s figure is its subdivision’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in West Lorne
Is West Lorne at risk of wildfire?
No meaningful wildfire history near West Lorne: 0% of nearby land since 1986, band low.
How is West Lorne’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
West Lorne grades B+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is radon a problem in West Lorne?
In Health Canada’s survey, 7.5% of 93 homes tested in West Lorne’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Does West Lorne flood?
Nothing is listed for West Lorne on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
How big is the earthquake risk in West Lorne?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in West Lorne $0.020 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
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).