Photo: Amakuha · CC BY 4.0South Walkerville’s hazards at a glance: a low wildfire record and 14% of area homes over the radon guideline
Wildfire is rare near South Walkerville: 0.2% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.007% a year. Earthquake risk in South Walkerville 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. Hazard risk gives South Walkerville a grade of C+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about South Walkerville’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for South Walkerville: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What South Walkerville faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in South Walkerville: C+
Earthquake risk and radon make South Walkerville’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
Its place: #682 of 866 in Ontario and #1,870 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.
Wildfire is rare near South Walkerville: 0.2% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around South Walkerville’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
With 0.007% burned a year, South Walkerville is among the many low-band places (the typical Canadian town 0.000%).
Fire has stayed at least 6.0 km from South Walkerville’s homes since 1986.
Forest makes up 0% of the land within 5 km of South Walkerville 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
South Walkerville ranks 32nd of the 871 towns in Ontario for burn rate, at 0.007% a year; Sioux Lookout leads with 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; South Walkerville 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 South Walkerville
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for South Walkerville: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
NRCan’s inventory is silent on South Walkerville, so any flood map would be the municipality’s own.
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Ontario reaches 69% of towns, beside 58% across Canada, but not South Walkerville.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping is shown for South Walkerville to be opened and checked, never turned into a grade.
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.”
Ordinary seismic risk in South Walkerville: $0.019 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
With $0.019 of shaking damage a year per $1,000, South Walkerville is about even with the typical $0.030 (0.6 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
South Walkerville’s $0.019 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.
Toward the quiet end of Canada’s range: 66% of its 2,611 towns sit above South Walkerville.
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 South Walkerville’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). · Earthquake risk: one figure for all of the city of Windsor
14% of homes tested around South Walkerville are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit: radon tests
More homes than usual test high around South Walkerville: 14% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs higher around South Walkerville than in most towns in Ontario: 14% over the guideline (4% is typical), 1% over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
More high tests than most: South Walkerville 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.
One home in South Walkerville 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 South Walkerville
Alerts for South Walkerville 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. |
Fire danger and active fires near South Walkerville are mapped daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System; evacuation orders come from the municipality or province.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around South Walkerville
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Walkerville | Low | $0.019 | 14% | None listed |
| Remington Park 5,783 · 1.1 km | Low | $0.019 | 14% | None listed |
| South Central 10,392 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.019 | 14% | None listed |
| Walkerville 19,541 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.019 | 14% | Yes |
| East Windsor 20,876 · 3.1 km | Low | $0.019 | 14% | Yes |
| Fontainebleau 11,567 · 3.2 km | Low | $0.019 | 14% | Yes |
| Devonshire 9,852 · 3.3 km | Low | $0.019 | 14% | Yes |
The fire record around South Central is a touch heavier than South Walkerville’s, but the band is the same: low (here low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what South Walkerville faces
Practical steps for South Walkerville’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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- 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 South Walkerville’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 South Walkerville 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 South Walkerville until then.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; South Walkerville’s figure is its subdivision’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in South Walkerville
How is South Walkerville’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
South Walkerville grades C+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in South Walkerville?
In NRCan’s seismic model, South Walkerville’s buildings lose $0.019 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in South Walkerville?
The area’s survey found 14% of 195 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in South Walkerville.
Is South Walkerville at risk of wildfire?
Some, but South Walkerville’s low band (0.2% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2010) is short of the level that counts.
Does South Walkerville flood?
The inventory has 0 studies for South Walkerville, and an empty list isn’t a clean bill: the municipality holds any flood maps.
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).