Photo: François Ruph · CC BY-SA 4.0Wildfire low, radon 4.3%: how Témiscaming stands on hazards
Wildfire is rare near Témiscaming: 0.4% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.01% a year. Seismic risk runs high: $0.15 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Hazard risk gives Témiscaming a grade of C+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Témiscaming’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Témiscaming: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Témiscaming faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Témiscaming grades C+ for hazard risk
For Témiscaming, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Only 69 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.
Wildfire is rare near Témiscaming: 0.4% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0.7% within 5 km
Past fire around Témiscaming’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
At 0.01% of the land a year, Témiscaming’s burn rate is in the low band; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
There is forest near Témiscaming’s homes (57% within 5 km) and more of it further out (64% 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
Mistissini burns fastest in Quebec at 0.31% a year; Témiscaming, at 0.01%, ranks 20th of 514.
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.
Beside 2,610 Canadian towns, Témiscaming reads low, with 92% of them; only 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 Témiscaming
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Témiscaming: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
An empty entry for Témiscaming on the inventory isn’t proof of safety; ask locally for flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
No study touches Témiscaming; in Quebec, 45% of towns have one, below Canada’s 58%.
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 Témiscaming’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 Témiscaming $0.15 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Témiscaming’s $0.15 is about 5 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
Shaking damage around Témiscaming runs at $0.15 a year, near the $0.14 of the typical town in Quebec; La Pocatière has $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.
Témiscaming 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 Témiscaming’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 Témiscaming: 4.3% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Témiscaming’s survey area reads 4.3% over the guideline, under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Nobody publishes radon tests for Témiscaming alone, so this card uses the figure for the Abitibi-Temiscamingue health region.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs lower around Témiscaming than in most towns in Quebec: 4.3% 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: Témiscaming 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.
The survey sampled homes around Témiscaming; 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 Témiscaming
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Témiscaming; 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 Témiscaming come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what Témiscaming faces
Practical steps for Témiscaming’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. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Témiscaming’s 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 Témiscaming’s.
- 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 Témiscaming floods.
- 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 Témiscaming sits in.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Témiscaming
How is Témiscaming’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Témiscaming grades C+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Témiscaming?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Témiscaming’s buildings lose $0.15 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in Témiscaming?
4.3% of the 69 homes Health Canada tested around Témiscaming topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
Is Témiscaming at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Témiscaming’s band is low, with 0.4% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2022), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
Does Témiscaming flood?
No study on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory covers Témiscaming (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).