Photo: JFVoll · CC BY-SA 4.0A flood study covers River West: 1 on the national inventory, the newest from Essex Region Conservation Authority / County of Essex
Wildfire is rare near River West: 0.2% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.009% a year. Earthquake risk in River West is ordinary: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.019 a year per $1,000 of value, close to the typical town’s $0.030. Radon is higher than usual: 14% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. River West grades C+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about River West’s hazards
For River West, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What River West faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
River West grades C+ for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like River West with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
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 River West: 2.4% within 5 km, 0.2% within 25 km
Past fire around River West’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low: the land around River West burns at 0.009% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Forest makes up 0.1% of the land within 5 km of River West and 0.3% within 25 km, little for a forest fire to run through.
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
At 0.009% a year, River West is near the top in Ontario: 24th of 871, behind Sioux Lookout (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.
Low, like 92% of the country’s 2,610 towns: the land around River West burns, but slower than in the 7.5% above it.
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.
River West is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Essex Region Conservation Authority / County of Essex
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for River West: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Essex Region Conservation Authority / County of Essex holds the flood mapping that covers River West (2024), linked below.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essex Region | Essex Region Conservation Authority / County of Essex | 2024 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
River West is one of the 69% of towns in Ontario with a flood study on file; across Canada it is 58%.
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 River West.
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 River West: $0.019 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Nothing unusual about River West’s ground: $0.019 against a typical $0.030, 0.6 times.
Figures for earthquake risk are published for the city of Windsor as a whole, not for River West alone.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Below the middle in Ontario: River West’s $0.019 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.
River West is in the lower part of Canada’s range for earthquake risk; 66% 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).
For River West the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
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 River West: 14% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
More homes than usual test high around River West: 14% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around River West, 14% 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.
More high tests than most: River West sits in a band that only 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns share, with 4.6% 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.
Whatever River West’s area share, the reading that matters is your own home’s, over a winter.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit
Where to get warnings in River West
Alerts for River West 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 River West to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around River West
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| River West | Low | $0.019 | 14% | Yes |
| City Centre 10,269 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.019 | 14% | Yes |
| Sandwich 14,110 · 2.1 km | Low | $0.019 | 14% | Yes |
| South Central 10,392 · 2.3 km | Low | $0.019 | 14% | None listed |
| South Cameron 11,804 · 2.7 km | Low | $0.019 | 14% | None listed |
| Walkerville 19,541 · 3.3 km | Low | $0.019 | 14% | Yes |
| South Walkerville 6,129 · 4.7 km | Low | $0.019 | 14% | None listed |
The neighbour with the most fire is City Centre (low), still no more than River West (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what River West faces
What to do about the hazards River West 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?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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 River West until then.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for River West without grading them.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for River West’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Wildfire counts one way. For River West, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
Questions about flooding and hazards in River West
Is River West at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0.2% of the land within 25 km of River West has burned since 1986, the last in 2010, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How big is the earthquake risk in River West?
In NRCan’s seismic model, River West’s buildings lose $0.019 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in River West?
In Health Canada’s survey, 14% of 195 homes tested in River West’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Does River West flood?
A flood study covers River West on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
How is River West’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
River West’s Hazard risk grade is C+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
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).