Britannia No. 502’s hazards at a glance: a low wildfire record and 11% of area homes over the radon guideline
Wildfire is rare near Britannia No. 502: 0.7% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.02% a year. 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. Hazard risk gives Britannia No. 502 a grade of A−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Britannia No. 502’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Britannia No. 502: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Britannia No. 502 faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Britannia No. 502 grades A− for hazard risk
For Britannia No. 502, 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. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Wildfire is rare near Britannia No. 502: 0.7% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Britannia No. 502’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Around Britannia No. 502 fire takes 0.02% of the land in a typical year, the typical Canadian town 0.000%, which is low.
The closest burn since 1986 lies 13 km from Britannia No. 502’s homes, none within 5 km.
With 0% forest fuel within 5 km and 0.2% within 25 km, the land around Britannia No. 502 gives a fire little to burn.
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; Britannia No. 502, at 0.02%, ranks 9th 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.
The low band takes in 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, Britannia No. 502 among them, though its rate is above zero; 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 Britannia No. 502
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Britannia No. 502: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The inventory has nothing for Britannia No. 502, but a local or conservation-authority map may still exist.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Saskatchewan, 55% of towns against 58% nationally, and Britannia No. 502 has none.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Britannia No. 502 floods.
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 Britannia No. 502 just $0.004 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Shaking costs the typical town $0.030 a year; in Britannia No. 502 it is only $0.004, 0.1 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Britannia No. 502’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.
At the bottom of Canada’s range, Britannia No. 502 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).
Roads, pipes and bridges aren’t in Britannia No. 502’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).
11% of homes tested around Britannia No. 502 are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Britannia No. 502’s survey area reads 11% over the guideline, well past the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The typical town in Saskatchewan has 9.1% over 200 Bq/m³; Britannia No. 502’s area has 11%, much the same.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
The 10–20% band holds 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, Britannia No. 502 among them; 4.6% rank 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.
The share describes the area, not a house: in Britannia No. 502 as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: the Prairie North RHA
Weather and fire alerts for Britannia No. 502
Alerts for Britannia No. 502 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 Britannia No. 502 to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Britannia No. 502’s neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Britannia No. 502 | Low | $0.004 | 11% | None listed |
| Lloydminster (Part) 13,137 · 18 km | Low | $0.004 | 11% | None listed |
| Lloydminster (Part) 21,267 · 18 km | Low | $0.005 | 5.2% | None listed |
Nowhere around Britannia No. 502 burns more: Lloydminster (Part), the closest rival, is low to its low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Britannia No. 502 faces
Practical steps for Britannia No. 502’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.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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 Britannia No. 502 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 Britannia No. 502 sits in.
- 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 Britannia No. 502’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Britannia No. 502’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Britannia No. 502
Is Britannia No. 502 at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Britannia No. 502’s low band (0.7% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2025) is short of the level that counts.
How big is the earthquake risk in Britannia No. 502?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Britannia No. 502’s buildings lose $0.004 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in Britannia No. 502?
The area’s survey found 11% of 103 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Britannia No. 502.
How is Britannia No. 502’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Britannia No. 502’s Hazard risk grade is A−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Does Britannia No. 502 flood?
The inventory has 0 studies for Britannia No. 502, and an empty list isn’t a clean bill: the municipality holds any flood maps.
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).