Photo: Photo : Jean Tremblay · CC BY-SA 3.0Wildfire low, radon 2.8%: how Saint-David-de-Falardeau stands on hazards
Burn scars are few around Saint-David-de-Falardeau, with 0.3% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.007% a year). Seismic risk runs high: $0.16 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Saint-David-de-Falardeau grades B− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Saint-David-de-Falardeau’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Saint-David-de-Falardeau: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Saint-David-de-Falardeau faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Saint-David-de-Falardeau grades B− for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Saint-David-de-Falardeau with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #84 of 507 in Quebec and #1,592 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The radon share rests on 72 home tests in the survey area, so a few homes move it. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Little of the land around Saint-David-de-Falardeau has burned: 2.6% within 5 km, 0.3% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Saint-David-de-Falardeau’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Next to the typical Canadian town (0.000% a year), Saint-David-de-Falardeau’s 0.007% is in the low band.
Forest fuel is spread evenly around Saint-David-de-Falardeau: 74% within 5 km, 73% 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 Quebec · highest of 513
At 0.007% a year, Saint-David-de-Falardeau is near the top in Quebec: 23rd of 513, behind Mistissini (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.
Saint-David-de-Falardeau is in the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 7.5% sit in moderate or 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.
No flood study is listed for Saint-David-de-Falardeau
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Saint-David-de-Falardeau: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
No flood study on the national inventory covers Saint-David-de-Falardeau; ask the municipality, which is the authority for its flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Quebec reaches 45% of towns, below the 58% across Canada, and not Saint-David-de-Falardeau.
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 Saint-David-de-Falardeau.
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.”
Shaking is Saint-David-de-Falardeau’s costliest hazard: $0.16 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
The typical town loses $0.030 a year to shaking; Saint-David-de-Falardeau loses $0.16, 5.3 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The median in Quebec is $0.14; Saint-David-de-Falardeau, at $0.16, is right beside it, and La Pocatière tops the list at $0.48.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Saint-David-de-Falardeau sits above most of Canada’s 2,611 towns on earthquake risk; 15% 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).
Roads, pipes and bridges aren’t in Saint-David-de-Falardeau’s figure, nor landslides or tsunami: it is buildings and shaking.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon runs low around Saint-David-de-Falardeau: 2.8% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Radon runs below the typical Canadian town (6.6%) in Saint-David-de-Falardeau’s area, at 2.8%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Below the typical town in Quebec (8.2%) at 2.8%, the area around Saint-David-de-Falardeau still had 1.4% of tests over 600 Bq/m³.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Radon rarely tops the guideline around Saint-David-de-Falardeau, as for 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 63% see 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.
The share describes the area, not a house: in Saint-David-de-Falardeau as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: one figure for all of the Saguenay - Lac-Saint-Jean health region
Weather and fire alerts for Saint-David-de-Falardeau
Alerts for Saint-David-de-Falardeau 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 Saint-David-de-Falardeau 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 Saint-David-de-Falardeau
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-David-de-Falardeau | Low | $0.16 | 2.8% | None listed |
| Saint-Honoré 6,984 · 9.7 km | Low | $0.22 | 2.8% | None listed |
| Saint-Ambroise 4,262 · 18 km | Low | $0.22 | 2.8% | None listed |
The fire record around Saint-Ambroise is a touch heavier than Saint-David-de-Falardeau’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 Saint-David-de-Falardeau faces
What to do about the hazards Saint-David-de-Falardeau 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.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap the water heater down.
- Keep 72 hours of supplies.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
- Is earthquake cover included?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Saint-David-de-Falardeau’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Saint-David-de-Falardeau.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as Saint-David-de-Falardeau’s.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Saint-David-de-Falardeau takes its 2007 health region’s share.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Saint-David-de-Falardeau
How is Saint-David-de-Falardeau’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Saint-David-de-Falardeau B−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
How big is the earthquake risk in Saint-David-de-Falardeau?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Saint-David-de-Falardeau’s buildings lose $0.16 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is Saint-David-de-Falardeau at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0.3% of the land around Saint-David-de-Falardeau since 1986 (last in 2014); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Is radon a problem in Saint-David-de-Falardeau?
Around Saint-David-de-Falardeau, 72 survey homes were tested and 2.8% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Does Saint-David-de-Falardeau flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Saint-David-de-Falardeau’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
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).