Photo: Roncanada · CC BY 4.0Hazards in Saint-Lucien are mild: low wildfire and earthquake risk, and 0% of area homes above the radon guideline
Wildfire isn’t Saint-Lucien’s worry: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (0.000% a year). Seismic risk runs high: $0.099 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Saint-Lucien grades A− for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Saint-Lucien’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Saint-Lucien: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Saint-Lucien faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Saint-Lucien grades A− for hazard risk
Seismic risk and radon set Saint-Lucien’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of it.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Only 58 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.
Little of the land around Saint-Lucien has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Saint-Lucien’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
In a typical year 0.000% of the land near Saint-Lucien burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
Fire has stayed at least 11 km from Saint-Lucien’s homes since 1986.
Forest fuel is denser close to Saint-Lucien (35% within 5 km) than further out (16% 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 514
Of the 514 towns in Quebec, 145 have a burn rate that rounds to zero, Saint-Lucien among them; Mistissini leads at 0.31% a year.
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.
92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are in the low band and 7.5% above it; Saint-Lucien is among the many where the yearly burn rate rounds to zero.
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 Saint-Lucien
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Saint-Lucien: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
There is no study for Saint-Lucien on the national flood inventory, which is far from complete.
Towns with a flood study on file
Only 45% of towns in Quebec have a flood study, short of Canada’s 58%, and Saint-Lucien is not among them.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Saint-Lucien’s homes are at risk.
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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Saint-Lucien $0.099 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Saint-Lucien’s $0.099 is about 3.3 times the typical town’s $0.030: it sits in one of Canada’s more active seismic zones.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in Quebec expects $0.14 a year in shaking damage; Saint-Lucien expects less, $0.099, and La Pocatière the most, $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.
More earthquake risk than most: only 26% of Canada’s 2,611 towns are above Saint-Lucien.
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-Lucien’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-Lucien: 0% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the Mauricie et Centre-du-Quebec health region: radon tests
Fewer homes than usual test high around Saint-Lucien: 0% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs lower around Saint-Lucien than in most towns in Quebec: 0% against 8.2%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Few tests over the guideline: Saint-Lucien shares the bottom band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, below the other 63%.
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.
Basements, soil and how a house is sealed decide its radon, so in Saint-Lucien only a test can say.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Saint-Lucien
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Saint-Lucien; 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. |
For fires near Saint-Lucien, the national fire information system maps danger and active fires daily; local authorities give any evacuation order.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Saint-Lucien
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Lucien | Low | $0.099 | 0% | None listed |
| Saint-Cyrille-de-Wendover 5,242 · 8.3 km | Low | $0.12 | 0% | None listed |
| Drummondville 85,560 · 11 km | Low | $0.12 | 0% | None listed |
| L'Avenir 1,456 · 12 km | Low | $0.061 | 0% | None listed |
| Saint-Félix-de-Kingsey 1,550 · 14 km | Low | $0.071 | 0% | None listed |
| Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Conseil 1,950 · 14 km | Low | $0.13 | 0% | None listed |
| Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton 1,647 · 16 km | Low | $0.11 | 0% | Yes |
Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Conseil burns a little more than Saint-Lucien, in the same low band (low here).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Saint-Lucien faces
Practical steps for Saint-Lucien’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
- 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-Lucien’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 Saint-Lucien until then.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Saint-Lucien’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. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Saint-Lucien without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Saint-Lucien
How big is the earthquake risk in Saint-Lucien?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Saint-Lucien $0.099 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is radon a problem in Saint-Lucien?
0% of the 58 homes Health Canada tested around Saint-Lucien topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
Is Saint-Lucien at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Saint-Lucien’s band is low, with 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2025), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
How is Saint-Lucien’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Saint-Lucien’s Hazard risk grade is A−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Does Saint-Lucien flood?
No study on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory covers Saint-Lucien (0), which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped, so ask the municipality.
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).