Photo: Pierre Bona · CC BY-SA 3.0Wildfire low, radon 7.3%: how Compton stands on hazards
Burn scars are few around Compton, with 0% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.000% a year). Earthquake risk in Compton is ordinary: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.039 a year per $1,000 of value, close to the typical town’s $0.030. Hazard risk gives Compton a grade of B, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Compton’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Compton: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Compton faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Compton grades B for hazard risk
The grade weighs Compton’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
Its place: #54 of 507 in Quebec and #1,416 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Only 55 homes were tested in the survey area, so the radon share is rough. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Wildfire is rare near Compton: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0.1% within 5 km
Past fire around Compton’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Compton is 0.000%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
The nearer ring around Compton is less wooded (19% forest fuel) than the land out to 25 km (37%).
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 Quebec · highest of 513
Little or nothing burns around Compton in a typical year; 144 of the 513 towns in Quebec share that, and Mistissini leads at 0.31%.
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.
Measured against 2,610 towns, Compton is in the largest group, low (92%), and at its floor, while 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 Compton
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Compton: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
There is no study for Compton on the national flood inventory, which is far from complete.
Towns with a flood study on file
Compton has no flood study on file; only 45% of towns in Quebec do, against 58% across Canada.
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 Compton 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.”
Expected shaking damage in Compton: $0.039 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
With $0.039 of shaking damage a year per $1,000, Compton is about even with the typical $0.030 (1.3 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Quebec peaks in La Pocatière ($0.48); Compton, at $0.039, is below the median of $0.14.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Compton sits mid-range among Canada’s 2,611 towns: 45% 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 Compton’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 Compton: 7.3% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the Estrie health region: radon tests
Near the middle for radon: Compton’s area 7.3%, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Compton, 7.3% of tests topped the guideline, about the same as the typical town in Quebec (8.2%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Compton is in the 5–10% band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% have more.
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.
A survey sample isn’t a map: any home in Compton can be high, and a three-month test is the only way to know.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Compton
Alerts for Compton 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 Compton 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)
How Compton’s neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compton | Low | $0.039 | 7.3% | None listed |
| Waterville 2,643 · 7.5 km | Low | $0.039 | 7.3% | Yes |
| Hatley 2,512 · 11 km | Low | $0.046 | 7.3% | Yes |
| Coaticook 9,027 · 14 km | Low | $0.042 | 7.3% | Yes |
| Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley 2,938 · 16 km | Low | $0.038 | 7.3% | Yes |
| Sherbrooke 184,135 · 18 km | Low | $0.043 | 7.3% | Yes |
| Ayer's Cliff 1,284 · 18 km | Low | $0.042 | 7.3% | Yes |
Among its neighbours Compton has the most fire on record (low); Waterville follows (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Compton faces
What to do about the hazards Compton 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. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Compton without grading them.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Compton’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; Compton’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- 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 Compton until then.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Compton
Does Compton flood?
Nothing is listed for Compton on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
How big is the earthquake risk in Compton?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Compton’s buildings lose $0.039 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
How is Compton’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Compton grades B for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is Compton at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Compton has burned since 1986, the last in 2022, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
Is radon a problem in Compton?
In Health Canada’s survey, 7.3% of 55 homes tested in Compton’s 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).