Photo: Dreerwin · CC BY-SA 4.0Hazard risk in Pinehouse is higher than in almost every Canadian town
Wildfire is Pinehouse’s dominant hazard: 55% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, 1.77% a year. Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.003 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. Radon is higher than usual: 14% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Pinehouse a grade of D−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Pinehouse’s hazards
For Pinehouse, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Pinehouse faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Pinehouse grades D− for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Pinehouse with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
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.
Fire country: 55% of the land within 25 km of Pinehouse has burned since 1986, 16% within 5 km
Past fire around Pinehouse’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Pinehouse is 1.77%, against 0.000% for the typical Canadian town: the very high band.
Forest crowds in on Pinehouse: 64% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, more than the 34% 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; Pinehouse, at 1.77%, ranks 2nd 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.
Few places in Canada burn like the land around Pinehouse: 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.
No flood study is listed for Pinehouse
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Pinehouse: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
There is no study for Pinehouse on the national flood inventory, which is far from complete.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Saskatchewan, 55% of towns against 58% nationally, and Pinehouse has none.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Pinehouse’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.”
Little shaking expected in Pinehouse: $0.003 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Pinehouse’s $0.003 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
At $0.003, Pinehouse is below the typical town in Saskatchewan ($0.006); Weyburn is highest at $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.
Pinehouse is among Canada’s quietest towns for earthquakes: 99% 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 Pinehouse 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 Pinehouse are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Radon runs above the typical Canadian town (6.6%) in Pinehouse’s area, at 14%. Behind radon tests sits data gathered across the Mamawetan/Keewatin/Athabasca health region, with Pinehouse one part of it.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs higher around Pinehouse than in most towns in Saskatchewan: 14% over the guideline (9.1% is typical), 1.2% 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 Pinehouse, 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.
Neighbouring homes in Pinehouse can differ a lot; only a long-term test tells you about yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Pinehouse
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Pinehouse; 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for Pinehouse come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what Pinehouse faces
What to do about the hazards Pinehouse 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. Burned land within 25 km of where people live, averaged over 1986–2025 and checked for fuel near homes, is the measure; it looks back, not ahead, and only ever counts against Pinehouse.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Pinehouse’s included.
- 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 Pinehouse.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Pinehouse is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Pinehouse
Is radon a problem in Pinehouse?
In Health Canada’s survey, 14% of 166 homes tested in Pinehouse’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How is Pinehouse’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Pinehouse D−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is Pinehouse at risk of wildfire?
Yes, by Canadian standards: Pinehouse’s band is very high, with 55% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2025), so wildfire counts against its Risk grade.
Does Pinehouse flood?
Nothing is listed for Pinehouse on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
How big is the earthquake risk in Pinehouse?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Pinehouse’s buildings lose $0.003 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
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).