Photo: Gordalmighty · CC BY-SA 3.0Sainte-Marie-Salomé’s hazards at a glance: a low wildfire record and 3.9% of area homes over the radon guideline
Fire seldom reaches Sainte-Marie-Salomé: since 1986, 0.1% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.001% a year). Shaking is a bigger worry than in most places, at $0.18 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Sainte-Marie-Salomé grades C+ for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Sainte-Marie-Salomé’s hazards
For Sainte-Marie-Salomé, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Sainte-Marie-Salomé faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Sainte-Marie-Salomé grades C+ for hazard risk
Earthquake risk and radon make Sainte-Marie-Salomé’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Only 77 homes were tested in the survey area, so the radon share is rough. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Few fires near Sainte-Marie-Salomé: 0% within 5 km, 0.1% within 25 km
Past fire around Sainte-Marie-Salomé’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
A burn rate of 0.001% a year keeps Sainte-Marie-Salomé in the low band (the typical Canadian town: 0.000%).
The closest burn since 1986 lies 6.5 km from Sainte-Marie-Salomé’s homes, none within 5 km.
Near or far, forest fuel covers a similar share around Sainte-Marie-Salomé: 9.9% within 5 km and 7.7% 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
Sainte-Marie-Salomé burns at 0.001% a year, 136th of 514 towns in Quebec; the leader, Mistissini, reaches 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.
Some fire is mapped around Sainte-Marie-Salomé, but not enough to leave the low band, where 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are; 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 Sainte-Marie-Salomé
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Sainte-Marie-Salomé: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Nationally, Sainte-Marie-Salomé has no listed flood study; the municipality is the place to ask.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Quebec, 45% of towns against 58% nationally, and Sainte-Marie-Salomé 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 Sainte-Marie-Salomé.
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 Sainte-Marie-Salomé’s costliest hazard: $0.18 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Sainte-Marie-Salomé’s $0.18 is about 5.9 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; Sainte-Marie-Salomé expects $0.18, and La Pocatière $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 14% of Canada’s 2,611 towns are above Sainte-Marie-Salomé.
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).
For Sainte-Marie-Salomé the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
3.9% of homes tested around Sainte-Marie-Salomé are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Shared with the rest of the Lanaudiere health region: radon tests
Sainte-Marie-Salomé’s area, at 3.9%, is below the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town, though any one home can still be high.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The median in Quebec is 8.2% over 200 Bq/m³; around Sainte-Marie-Salomé it is 3.9%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Under 5% puts Sainte-Marie-Salomé with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 63% have more high tests.
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.
Radon varies from house to house in Sainte-Marie-Salomé, so the survey is a reason to test, not a result for yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Sainte-Marie-Salomé
Alerts for Sainte-Marie-Salomé 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. |
Alert Ready carries evacuation orders for Sainte-Marie-Salomé to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Sainte-Marie-Salomé
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sainte-Marie-Salomé | Low | $0.18 | 3.9% | None listed |
| Crabtree 4,237 · 5.1 km | Low | $0.16 | 3.9% | Yes |
| Saint-Jacques 4,830 · 6.9 km | Low | $0.16 | 3.9% | None listed |
| L'Épiphanie 9,254 · 8.1 km | Low | $0.19 | 3.9% | Yes |
| Saint-Paul 7,208 · 8.8 km | Low | $0.17 | 3.9% | Yes |
| L'Assomption 25,126 · 9.6 km | Low | $0.18 | 3.9% | Yes |
| Saint-Liguori 2,268 · 9.9 km | Low | $0.16 | 3.9% | None listed |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around Sainte-Marie-Salomé (low), with Crabtree next at low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Sainte-Marie-Salomé faces
Practical steps for Sainte-Marie-Salomé’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.
- 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. Burned land within 25 km of where people live, averaged over 1986–2025 and checked for fuel near homes, is the measure; it looks back, not ahead, and only ever counts against Sainte-Marie-Salomé.
- 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 Sainte-Marie-Salomé until then.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Sainte-Marie-Salomé’s included.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Sainte-Marie-Salomé without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Sainte-Marie-Salomé
How is Sainte-Marie-Salomé’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Sainte-Marie-Salomé’s Hazard risk grade is C+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Does Sainte-Marie-Salomé flood?
No study on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory covers Sainte-Marie-Salomé (0), which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped, so ask the municipality.
Is radon a problem in Sainte-Marie-Salomé?
3.9% of the 77 homes Health Canada tested around Sainte-Marie-Salomé topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
How big is the earthquake risk in Sainte-Marie-Salomé?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Sainte-Marie-Salomé’s buildings lose $0.18 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is Sainte-Marie-Salomé at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Sainte-Marie-Salomé’s band is low, with 0.1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2025), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
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).