Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainWildfire low, radon 13%: how Saint-René stands on hazards
The national fire record shows next to nothing around Saint-René, 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.000% a year). Seismic risk in Saint-René sits near the middle: $0.053 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Saint-René grades C− for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Saint-René’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Saint-René: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Saint-René faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Saint-René grades C− for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Saint-René, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
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 Saint-René: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Saint-René’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Fire claims 0.000% of the land around Saint-René each year, a low band, with the typical Canadian town at 0.000%.
Forest fuel is denser close to Saint-René (76% within 5 km) than further out (60% 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
Among the 514 towns in Quebec, Mistissini burns fastest (0.31% a year); Saint-René is with the 145 near zero.
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-René 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-René
Flood studies whose area touches Saint-René, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Nationally, Saint-René has no listed flood study; the municipality is the place to ask.
Towns with a flood study on file
Saint-René 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 is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Saint-René’s homes stand in a flood zone.
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-René $0.053 per $1,000 a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
Earthquake losses in Saint-René, $0.053 per $1,000, are in line with the typical $0.030 (1.8 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Saint-René’s $0.053 sits under the median in Quebec, $0.14, and well under La Pocatière’s $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.
30% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Saint-René, which places it in the upper third.
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 Saint-René’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).
13% of homes tested around Saint-René are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
More homes than usual test high around Saint-René: 13% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town. For radon tests, the only official count covers all of the Chaudiere-Appalaches health region, Saint-René included.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Saint-René’s area, at 13%, is above the median in Quebec (8.2%), and 0.6% of its tests passed 600 Bq/m³.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
One test in ten or more tops the guideline around Saint-René, as in 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 4.6% go higher.
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 Saint-René 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 Saint-René
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Saint-René; 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for Saint-René come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Saint-René’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-René | Low | $0.053 | 13% | None listed |
| Saint-Côme--Linière 3,435 · 7.9 km | Low | $0.050 | 13% | Yes |
| Saint-Martin 2,687 · 8.2 km | Low | $0.044 | 13% | None listed |
| Saint-Georges 33,881 · 11 km | Low | $0.048 | 13% | None listed |
| Saint-Benoît-Labre 1,655 · 13 km | Low | $0.052 | 13% | None listed |
| Saint-Honoré-de-Shenley 1,610 · 17 km | Low | $0.045 | 13% | None listed |
| Notre-Dame-des-Pins 1,935 · 18 km | Low | $0.044 | 13% | None listed |
Saint-Côme--Linière (low) has the heaviest fire record of Saint-René’s neighbours, and Saint-René (low) matches or beats it.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Saint-René faces
What to do about the hazards Saint-René 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
- 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-René’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-René until then.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Saint-René without grading them.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Saint-René’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Saint-René
Does Saint-René flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Saint-René’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
Is Saint-René at risk of wildfire?
No meaningful wildfire history near Saint-René: 0% of nearby land since 1986, band low.
How is Saint-René’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Saint-René grades C− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is radon a problem in Saint-René?
Around Saint-René, 175 survey homes were tested and 13% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How big is the earthquake risk in Saint-René?
Expected earthquake damage in Saint-René comes to $0.053 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
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).