Hazard risk in Shellbrook No. 493 is higher than in 96% of Canadian towns
With 0.29% of the land around it burning each year, Shellbrook No. 493 sits in the high wildfire band (11% within 25 km since 1986). Seismic risk runs low: $0.004 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Radon around Shellbrook No. 493 is ordinary for Canada: 7.4% of tested homes over the guideline (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Shellbrook No. 493 a grade of D−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Shellbrook No. 493’s hazards
For Shellbrook No. 493, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Shellbrook No. 493 faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Shellbrook No. 493: D−
Earthquake risk and radon make Shellbrook No. 493’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
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: 11% of the land within 25 km of Shellbrook No. 493 has burned since 1986, 8.9% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Shellbrook No. 493’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
High: the land around Shellbrook No. 493 burns at 0.29% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Near or far, forest fuel covers a similar share around Shellbrook No. 493: 13% within 5 km and 14% 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
Shellbrook No. 493 ranks 3rd of the 105 towns in Saskatchewan for burn rate, at 0.29% a year; La Loche leads with 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, Shellbrook No. 493 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.
No flood study is listed for Shellbrook No. 493
Flood studies whose area touches Shellbrook No. 493, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
NRCan’s inventory is silent on Shellbrook No. 493, so any flood map would be the municipality’s own.
Towns with a flood study on file
No study touches Shellbrook No. 493; in Saskatchewan, 55% of towns have one, below Canada’s 58%.
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 Shellbrook No. 493’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 Shellbrook No. 493: $0.004 a year per $1,000
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
At $0.004 per $1,000, Shellbrook No. 493 carries 0.1 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030): low.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.004, Shellbrook No. 493 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.
At the bottom of Canada’s range, Shellbrook No. 493 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).
What a quake does after the shaking, fire, landslides, tsunami, falls outside NRCan’s figure for Shellbrook No. 493.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
7.4% of homes tested around Shellbrook No. 493 are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Radon tests for the Prince Albert Parkland RHA
7.4% of tested homes around Shellbrook No. 493 were over the guideline, much like the typical Canadian town at 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon around Shellbrook No. 493 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.
Between 5% and 10% of tests over the guideline: Shellbrook No. 493, and 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% are 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.
Health Canada advises testing every home, Shellbrook No. 493’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Shellbrook No. 493
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Shellbrook No. 493; 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 Shellbrook No. 493, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Shellbrook No. 493’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shellbrook No. 493 | High | $0.004 | 7.4% | None listed |
| Sturgeon Lake 101 1,285 · 16 km | Moderate | $0.004 | 7.4% | None listed |
| Shellbrook 1,576 · 17 km | High | $0.005 | 7.4% | None listed |
The neighbour with the most fire is Shellbrook (high), still no more than Shellbrook No. 493 (high).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Shellbrook No. 493 faces
Practical steps for Shellbrook No. 493’s hazards, most pressing first.
- 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
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Shellbrook No. 493 is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- 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 Shellbrook No. 493.
- 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 Shellbrook No. 493.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Shellbrook No. 493’s included.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Shellbrook No. 493
Is Shellbrook No. 493 at risk of wildfire?
It is: 11% of the land within 25 km of Shellbrook No. 493 has burned since 1986, the latest in 2025, which puts it in the high band that lowers Risk.
How big is the earthquake risk in Shellbrook No. 493?
About $0.004 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Shellbrook No. 493.
Does Shellbrook No. 493 flood?
No study on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory covers Shellbrook No. 493 (0), which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped, so ask the municipality.
How is Shellbrook No. 493’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Shellbrook No. 493 grades D− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is radon a problem in Shellbrook No. 493?
7.4% of the 108 homes Health Canada tested around Shellbrook No. 493 topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
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).