Buckland No. 491 faces more hazards than 95% of Canadian towns
With 0.26% of the land around it burning each year, Buckland No. 491 sits in the high wildfire band (9.2% within 25 km since 1986). Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.005 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Radon is about average around Buckland No. 491: 7.4% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Buckland No. 491 a grade of D; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Buckland No. 491’s hazards
For Buckland No. 491, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Buckland No. 491 faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Buckland No. 491: D
The grade weighs Buckland No. 491’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
Its place: #102 of 104 in Saskatchewan and #2,535 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
A high wildfire band for Buckland No. 491: 1.1% within 5 km, 9.2% within 25 km
Past fire around Buckland No. 491’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
High: the land around Buckland No. 491 burns at 0.26% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Forest fuel is denser close to Buckland No. 491 (17% within 5 km) than further out (8.7% 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 Saskatchewan · highest of 104
At 0.26% a year, Buckland No. 491 is near the top in Saskatchewan: 3rd of 104, behind La Loche (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.
High is rare: 1.9% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, Buckland No. 491 among them, with 0.2% higher still.
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.
Buckland No. 491 is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by City of Prince Albert
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Buckland No. 491: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
City of Prince Albert studied flooding in an area that includes Buckland No. 491 (2019); open its map to see which streets lie in a flood zone.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prince Albert | City of Prince Albert | 2019 | final · not public |
Towns with a flood study on file
Buckland No. 491 is one of the 55% of towns in Saskatchewan with a flood study on file, fewer than Canada’s 58%.
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 Buckland No. 491 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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Little shaking expected in Buckland No. 491: $0.005 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Buckland No. 491’s $0.005 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.2 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Shaking damage around Buckland No. 491 runs at $0.005 a year, near the $0.006 of the typical town in Saskatchewan; Weyburn has $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, Buckland No. 491 has 96% 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 Buckland No. 491 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).
Some radon around Buckland No. 491: 7.4% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Around Buckland No. 491, 7.4% of tested homes topped the guideline, near the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Nobody publishes radon tests for Buckland No. 491 alone, so this card uses the figure for the Prince Albert Parkland RHA.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Buckland No. 491, 7.4% of tests topped the guideline, about the same as the typical town in Saskatchewan (9.1%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
A middling share of high tests puts Buckland No. 491 with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, below 26% of them.
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 Buckland No. 491, 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 Buckland No. 491
Alerts for Buckland No. 491 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 Buckland No. 491 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)
How Buckland No. 491’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buckland No. 491 | High | $0.005 | 7.4% | Yes |
| Prince Albert 40,728 · 7.5 km | Moderate | $0.004 | 7.4% | Yes |
| Prince Albert No. 461 3,589 · 9.9 km | Moderate | $0.005 | 7.4% | Yes |
Among its neighbours Buckland No. 491 has the most fire on record (high); Prince Albert follows (moderate).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Buckland No. 491 faces
What to do about the hazards Buckland No. 491 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
- Wildfire counts one way. For Buckland No. 491, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- 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 Buckland No. 491 sits in.
- 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 Buckland No. 491 floods.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Buckland No. 491’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
Questions about flooding and hazards in Buckland No. 491
Does Buckland No. 491 flood?
Buckland No. 491’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
How big is the earthquake risk in Buckland No. 491?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Buckland No. 491’s buildings lose $0.005 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in Buckland No. 491?
In Health Canada’s survey, 7.4% of 108 homes tested in Buckland No. 491’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How is Buckland No. 491’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Buckland No. 491’s Hazard risk grade is D, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is Buckland No. 491 at risk of wildfire?
Yes, by Canadian standards: Buckland No. 491’s band is high, with 9.2% 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).