Hazard risk in Shellbrook is higher than in 95% of Canadian towns
With 0.28% of the land around it burning each year, Shellbrook sits in the high wildfire band (10% within 25 km since 1986). Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.005 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. About as many homes carry radon around Shellbrook as elsewhere, 7.4% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Shellbrook a grade of D; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Shellbrook’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Shellbrook: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Shellbrook 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: D
Two inputs always count for Shellbrook, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
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.
0% of the land near Shellbrook’s homes has burned since 1986, 10% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Shellbrook’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The yearly burn rate around Shellbrook is 0.28%, against 0.000% for the typical Canadian town: the high band.
Shellbrook’s homes have had no fire within 5 km since 1986; the closest was 6.4 km away.
Close to Shellbrook there is little to burn (3.4% forest fuel within 5 km), but 14% of the land within 25 km is forest.
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
In the top quarter in Saskatchewan: Shellbrook ranks 3rd of 105 at 0.28% a year, with La Loche first at 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.
Shellbrook is one of the few of Canada’s 2,610 towns in the high band (1.9%); 0.2% rank very high.
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 Shellbrook
Flood studies whose area touches Shellbrook, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
The inventory has nothing for Shellbrook, but a local or conservation-authority map may still exist.
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Saskatchewan reaches 55% of towns, below the 58% across Canada, and not Shellbrook.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Shellbrook’s homes stand in a flood zone.
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.”
Low seismic risk in Shellbrook: $0.005 per $1,000 of buildings a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
0.2 times the typical $0.030: Shellbrook’s $0.005 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Shellbrook’s $0.005 is close to the median 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 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).
The model counts damage to Shellbrook’s buildings and their occupants from shaking only: not liquefaction, landslides, tsunami or fires after a quake.
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 Shellbrook: 7.4% of area homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
7.4% of tested homes around Shellbrook were over the guideline, much like the typical Canadian town at 6.6%. Nobody publishes radon tests for Shellbrook alone, so this card uses the figure for the Prince Albert Parkland RHA.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon around Shellbrook 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.
Shellbrook is in the 5–10% band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% have more.
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 Shellbrook as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Shellbrook
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Shellbrook; 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 Shellbrook come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Shellbrook’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shellbrook | High | $0.005 | 7.4% | None listed |
| Shellbrook No. 493 1,671 · 17 km | High | $0.004 | 7.4% | None listed |
Shellbrook No. 493 burns a little more than Shellbrook, in the same high band (high here).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Shellbrook faces
What to do about the hazards Shellbrook 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
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Shellbrook’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Radon is a survey. Radon figures pool the survey’s home tests by area: postal areas once their boundaries arrive, the 2007 health region around Shellbrook until then.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Shellbrook’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Shellbrook without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Shellbrook
Is radon a problem in Shellbrook?
Around Shellbrook, 108 survey homes were tested and 7.4% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Does Shellbrook flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Shellbrook’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
Is Shellbrook at risk of wildfire?
More than most Canadian towns; Shellbrook’s high band rests on 10% of nearby land burned since 1986 (most recently 2025).
How big is the earthquake risk in Shellbrook?
About $0.005 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Shellbrook.
How is Shellbrook’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Shellbrook’s Hazard risk grade is D, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
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).