Few places are as safe from hazards as Big River No. 555: it beats 97% of Canadian towns
The burn rate around Big River No. 555 is 0.06% a year (2.1% of the land within 25 km since 1986), a moderate band. Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.004 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Big River No. 555’s survey area, 7.4% over the radon guideline, is close to the typical town’s 6.6%. Big River No. 555 grades A+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Big River No. 555’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Big River No. 555: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Big River No. 555 faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Big River No. 555 grades A+ for hazard risk
The grade weighs Big River No. 555’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
A moderate wildfire record for Big River No. 555: 2.1% within 25 km burned, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Big River No. 555’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
At 0.06% of the land a year, Big River No. 555’s burn rate is moderate; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Nothing inside 5 km of Big River No. 555’s homes has burned since 1986, and the nearest scar is 14 km off.
Near or far, forest fuel covers a similar share around Big River No. 555: 28% within 5 km and 31% 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 Saskatchewan · highest of 105
La Loche burns fastest in Saskatchewan at 1.94% a year; Big River No. 555, at 0.06%, ranks 8th of 105.
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.
Only 5.4% of Canada’s 2,610 towns share the moderate band with Big River No. 555, and 2.1% sit above it.
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.
No flood study is listed for Big River No. 555
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Big River No. 555: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Nationally, Big River No. 555 has no listed flood study; the municipality is the place to ask.
Towns with a flood study on file
Only 55% of towns in Saskatchewan have a flood study, short of Canada’s 58%, and Big River No. 555 is not among them.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping is shown for Big River No. 555 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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Big River No. 555 just $0.004 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
0.1 times the typical $0.030: Big River No. 555’s $0.004 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Big River No. 555’s $0.004 sits under the median in Saskatchewan, $0.006, and well under Weyburn’s $0.033.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Nearly every one of Canada’s 2,611 towns (98%) expects more shaking damage than Big River No. 555.
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 Big River No. 555’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).
Some radon around Big River No. 555: 7.4% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
At 7.4% over the guideline, the area around Big River No. 555 is about level with the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Behind radon tests sits data gathered across the Prince Albert Parkland RHA, with Big River No. 555 one part of it.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon around Big River No. 555 is ordinary for towns in Saskatchewan: 7.4%, beside a median of 9.1%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
26% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Big River No. 555’s 5–10% band, which holds 37%.
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 Big River No. 555; 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 Big River No. 555
Alerts for Big River No. 555 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. |
Evacuation orders for Big River No. 555 come from the municipality or the province, while CWFIS maps fire danger every day.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what Big River No. 555 faces
What to do about the hazards Big River No. 555 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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- How close is the forest edge?
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Big River No. 555’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- 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 Big River No. 555.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Big River No. 555 is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Big River No. 555’s figure is its subdivision’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Big River No. 555
Does Big River No. 555 flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Big River No. 555’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
How big is the earthquake risk in Big River No. 555?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Big River No. 555 $0.004 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is radon a problem in Big River No. 555?
Around Big River No. 555, 108 survey homes were tested and 7.4% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How is Big River No. 555’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Big River No. 555 grades A+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is Big River No. 555 at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 2.1% of the land around Big River No. 555 since 1986 (last in 2021); at moderate, it neither helps nor hurts the 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).