Photo: Darren Kirby · CC BY-SA 2.0La Ronge faces more hazards than almost every Canadian town
At 1.69% of the land burned each year (44% within 25 km since 1986), La Ronge is in the very high wildfire band. Seismic risk runs low: $0.004 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. More homes than usual carry radon here, 14% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. La Ronge grades D− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about La Ronge’s hazards
For La Ronge, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What La Ronge faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
La Ronge grades D− for hazard risk
The grade weighs La Ronge’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: #2,587 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 very high wildfire band for La Ronge: 53% within 5 km, 44% within 25 km
Past fire around La Ronge’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Very high: the land around La Ronge burns at 1.69% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
The nearer ring around La Ronge is less wooded (15% forest fuel) than the land out to 25 km (38%).
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 1.69% a year, La Ronge is near the top in Saskatchewan: 2nd 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.
Few places in Canada burn like the land around La 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.
2 flood studies cover La Ronge, the newest from Water Security Agency
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for La Ronge: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
For La Ronge the inventory points to 2 studies, most recently Water Security Agency’s in 2020.
| 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
Its flood study sets La Ronge apart in Saskatchewan, where 55% of towns have one (Canada: 58%).
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
No single decade dominates: 2 studies for La Ronge between the 1980s and the 2020s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching La Ronge.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of La Ronge’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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Low seismic risk in La Ronge: $0.004 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
La 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
La Ronge’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.
La Ronge is among Canada’s quietest towns for earthquakes: 98% of the 2,611 expect more damage.
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 La 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).
Test for radon in La Ronge: 14% of area homes were over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the Mamawetan/Keewatin/Athabasca health region: radon tests
La Ronge’s survey area reads 14% over the guideline, well past the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
More homes top the guideline around La 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.
One test in ten or more tops the guideline around La Ronge, as in 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 4.6% go higher.
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.
A low area share in La Ronge doesn’t clear a house, nor does a high one condemn it: test.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in La Ronge
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for La Ronge; 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. |
In fire season, check CWFIS for danger and active fires around La Ronge, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around La Ronge
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Ronge | Very high | $0.004 | 14% | Yes |
| Air Ronge 1,515 · 4.0 km | Very high | $0.004 | 14% | Yes |
| Lac La Ronge 156 1,415 · 4.9 km | Very high | $0.004 | 14% | Yes |
The neighbour with the most fire is Air Ronge (very high), still no more than La Ronge (very high).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what La Ronge faces
What to do about the hazards La 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
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for La Ronge’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’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 La Ronge 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 La Ronge sits in.
- Wildfire counts one way. For La 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.
Questions about flooding and hazards in La Ronge
How big is the earthquake risk in La Ronge?
In NRCan’s seismic model, La Ronge’s buildings lose $0.004 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Does La Ronge flood?
La Ronge’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
Is La Ronge at risk of wildfire?
Yes, by Canadian standards: La Ronge’s band is very high, with 44% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2025), so wildfire counts against its Risk grade.
How is La Ronge’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
La Ronge’s Hazard risk grade is D−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is radon a problem in La Ronge?
In Health Canada’s survey, 14% of 166 homes tested in La Ronge’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
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).