Air Ronge faces more hazards than almost every Canadian town
At 1.55% of the land burned each year (40% within 25 km since 1986), Air Ronge is in the very high wildfire band. Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.004 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. In Health Canada’s survey, 14% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Air Ronge a grade of D−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Air Ronge’s hazards
For Air Ronge, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Air Ronge faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Air Ronge grades D− for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Air Ronge, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
A very high wildfire band for Air Ronge: 22% within 5 km, 40% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Air Ronge’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Very high: the land around Air Ronge burns at 1.55% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
About as much forest grows next to Air Ronge’s homes (44% within 5 km) as across 25 km (41%).
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 Saskatchewan · highest of 105
Air Ronge ranks 3rd of the 105 towns in Saskatchewan for burn rate, at 1.55% a year; La Loche leads with 1.94%.
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.
Few places in Canada burn like the land around Air Ronge: the very high band holds 0.2% of the 2,610 towns.
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.
Air Ronge is on the flood map inventory: 2 studies, latest by Water Security Agency
Flood studies whose area touches Air Ronge, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
2 studies on the inventory touch Air Ronge, the newest Water Security Agency’s from 2020, and their areas can be large, so they say maps exist, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Ronge | Water Security Agency | 2020 | under review · not public |
| La Ronge | Water Security Agency | 1982 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Saskatchewan reaches 55% of towns, Air Ronge among them, below the 58% across Canada.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The 2 studies touching Air Ronge are spread over time, from the 1980s to the 2020s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Air Ronge.
Flood mapping is shown for Air Ronge to be opened and checked, never turned into a grade.
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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Low seismic risk in Air Ronge: $0.004 per $1,000 of buildings a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
Air Ronge’s $0.004 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.1 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Saskatchewan peaks in Weyburn ($0.033); Air Ronge, at $0.004, is below the median of $0.006.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
At the bottom of Canada’s range, Air Ronge has 98% of the 2,611 towns above it.
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 Air Ronge 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).
14% of homes tested around Air Ronge are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Air Ronge’s survey area reads 14% over the guideline, well past the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Nobody publishes radon tests for Air Ronge alone, so this card uses the figure for the Mamawetan/Keewatin/Athabasca health region.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
More homes top the guideline around Air Ronge (14%) than in the typical town in Saskatchewan (9.1%); 1.2% went over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
More high tests than most: Air Ronge sits in a band that only 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns share, with 4.6% above.
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.
Health Canada advises testing every home, Air Ronge’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Air Ronge
Alerts for Air Ronge 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 Air Ronge 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 Air Ronge
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Ronge | Very high | $0.004 | 14% | Yes |
| Lac La Ronge 156 1,415 · 1.3 km | Very high | $0.004 | 14% | Yes |
| La Ronge 2,668 · 4.0 km | Very high | $0.004 | 14% | Yes |
The fire record around La Ronge is a touch heavier than Air Ronge’s, but the band is the same: very high (here very high).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Air Ronge faces
What to do about the hazards Air Ronge faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- 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.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- How close is the forest edge?
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Air Ronge.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Air Ronge, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Air Ronge’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Air Ronge is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Air Ronge
Does Air Ronge flood?
There is flood mapping for Air Ronge on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
How big is the earthquake risk in Air Ronge?
Expected earthquake damage in Air Ronge comes to $0.004 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is radon a problem in Air Ronge?
In Health Canada’s survey, 14% of 166 homes tested in Air Ronge’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How is Air Ronge’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Air Ronge D−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is Air Ronge at risk of wildfire?
Yes, by Canadian standards: Air Ronge’s band is very high, with 40% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2025), so wildfire counts against its Risk 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).