On hazards, Torch River No. 488 comes out behind 98% of Canadian towns
Fire is a regular visitor: 21% of the land within 25 km of Torch River No. 488 has burned since 1986 (0.54% a year). 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. More homes than usual carry radon here, 16% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Torch River No. 488 grades D− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Torch River No. 488’s hazards
For Torch River No. 488, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Torch River No. 488 faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Torch River No. 488: D−
Seismic risk and radon set Torch River No. 488’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of 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: 21% of the land within 25 km of Torch River No. 488 has burned since 1986, 2.7% within 5 km
Past fire around Torch River No. 488’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
At 0.54% of the land a year, Torch River No. 488’s burn rate is high, many times the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
Forest thickens with distance from Torch River No. 488: 7.8% of the land within 5 km, 16% 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; Torch River No. 488, at 0.54%, ranks 3rd 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.
Torch River No. 488 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.
No flood study is listed for Torch River No. 488
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Torch River No. 488: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
An empty entry for Torch River No. 488 on the inventory isn’t proof of safety; ask locally for flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Saskatchewan, 55% of towns against 58% nationally, and Torch River No. 488 has none.
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 Torch River No. 488’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 Torch River No. 488: $0.005 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.005 per $1,000, Torch River No. 488 carries 0.2 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030): low.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
About level with the typical town in Saskatchewan: Torch River No. 488’s $0.005 against $0.006; Weyburn reaches $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.
Torch River No. 488 is among Canada’s quietest towns for earthquakes: 96% 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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Torch River No. 488 is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
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 Torch River No. 488: 16% of area homes were over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
More homes than usual test high around Torch River No. 488: 16% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town. Torch River No. 488 shares its radon tests numbers with the rest of the Kelsey Trail RHA.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Torch River No. 488’s area, at 16%, is above the median in Saskatchewan (9.1%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
The 10–20% band holds 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, Torch River No. 488 among them; 4.6% rank above.
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 Torch River No. 488 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 Torch River No. 488
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Torch River No. 488; 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 Torch River No. 488 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 Torch River No. 488’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Torch River No. 488 | High | $0.005 | 16% | None listed |
| Nipawin 5,033 · 19 km | Moderate | $0.005 | 16% | None listed |
Among its neighbours Torch River No. 488 has the most fire on record (high); Nipawin follows (moderate).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Torch River No. 488 faces
Practical steps for Torch River No. 488’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
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Torch River No. 488.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Torch River No. 488’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Torch River No. 488 takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Torch River No. 488, 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 Torch River No. 488
How is Torch River No. 488’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Torch River No. 488 grades D− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is radon a problem in Torch River No. 488?
16% of the 100 homes Health Canada tested around Torch River No. 488 topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
Is Torch River No. 488 at risk of wildfire?
It is: 21% of the land within 25 km of Torch River No. 488 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 Torch River No. 488?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Torch River No. 488’s buildings lose $0.005 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Does Torch River No. 488 flood?
No study on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory covers Torch River No. 488 (0), which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped, so ask the municipality.
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).