Photo: Fralambert · CC BY-SA 4.0Saint-Wenceslas’ hazards at a glance: a low wildfire record and 0% of area homes over the radon guideline
Since 1986 almost nothing has burned near Saint-Wenceslas: 0% of the land within 25 km, or 0.001% a year. Earthquakes add more: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.12 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Saint-Wenceslas a grade of B+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Saint-Wenceslas’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Saint-Wenceslas: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Saint-Wenceslas faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Saint-Wenceslas: B+
Two inputs always count for Saint-Wenceslas, 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. The radon share rests on 58 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-Wenceslas has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Saint-Wenceslas’ homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
A burn rate of 0.001% a year keeps Saint-Wenceslas in the low band (the typical Canadian town: 0.000%).
Since 1986 the nearest fire to Saint-Wenceslas’ homes came within 9.9 km, never inside 5 km.
Forest fuel covers 7.6% of the land close to Saint-Wenceslas and 15% across 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
At 0.001% a year, Saint-Wenceslas ranks 136th of the 514 towns in Quebec; 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.
Saint-Wenceslas 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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Saint-Wenceslas
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Saint-Wenceslas: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
There is no study for Saint-Wenceslas on the national flood inventory, which is far from complete.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Quebec, 45% of towns against 58% nationally, and Saint-Wenceslas has none.
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-Wenceslas.
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.”
High seismic risk in Saint-Wenceslas: $0.12 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
The typical town loses $0.030 a year to shaking; Saint-Wenceslas loses $0.12, 4.1 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk around Saint-Wenceslas ($0.12) matches the middle in Quebec ($0.14), far from 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.
In the upper part of Canada’s range: 23% of its 2,611 towns expect more damage than Saint-Wenceslas.
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-Wenceslas’ 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).
Little radon around Saint-Wenceslas: 0% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
At 0% over the guideline, the area around Saint-Wenceslas is under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Saint-Wenceslas shares its radon tests numbers with the rest of the Mauricie et Centre-du-Quebec health region.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Fewer homes top the guideline around Saint-Wenceslas (0%) than in 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.
Saint-Wenceslas is in the lowest band, with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns: under 5% of tests over the guideline, while 63% 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.
The survey sampled homes around Saint-Wenceslas; it can’t tell you your basement’s level.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Saint-Wenceslas
Alerts for Saint-Wenceslas 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-Wenceslas 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-Wenceslas
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Wenceslas | Low | $0.12 | 0% | None listed |
| Sainte-Eulalie 1,056 · 7.8 km | Low | $0.12 | 0% | None listed |
| Saint-Léonard-d'Aston 2,662 · 7.9 km | Low | $0.13 | 0% | Yes |
| Daveluyville 2,477 · 14 km | Low | $0.14 | 0% | None listed |
| Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Conseil 1,950 · 19 km | Low | $0.13 | 0% | None listed |
| Bécancour 14,943 · 19 km | Low | $0.13 | 0% | Yes |
Bécancour burns a little more than Saint-Wenceslas, 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-Wenceslas faces
What to do about the hazards Saint-Wenceslas 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
- Radon is a survey. The radon share comes from about 14,000 long-term home tests in 2009–2011, pooled for now by the 2007 health region Saint-Wenceslas sits in.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. A study’s area can be a whole watershed or province, so being on the inventory says a map exists, not that a home in Saint-Wenceslas floods.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Saint-Wenceslas’ homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- 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-Wenceslas’.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Saint-Wenceslas
Is Saint-Wenceslas at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Saint-Wenceslas since 1986 (last in 2020); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Saint-Wenceslas?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Saint-Wenceslas $0.12 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is radon a problem in Saint-Wenceslas?
Around Saint-Wenceslas, 58 survey homes were tested and 0% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Does Saint-Wenceslas flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Saint-Wenceslas’ flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
How is Saint-Wenceslas’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Saint-Wenceslas’ Hazard risk grade is B+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
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).