Photo: Rschuurman · Public domainA flood study covers Barrhead County No. 11: 1 on the national inventory, the newest from Government of Alberta
Wildfire is rare near Barrhead County No. 11: 0.4% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.01% a year. Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.013 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Radon around Barrhead County No. 11 is ordinary for Canada: 9.6% of tested homes over the guideline (6.6% typical). Barrhead County No. 11 grades B+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Barrhead County No. 11’s hazards
For Barrhead County No. 11, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Barrhead County No. 11 faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Barrhead County No. 11: B+
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Barrhead County No. 11 with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #271 of 474 in Alberta and #1,079 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.
Wildfire is rare near Barrhead County No. 11: 0.4% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Barrhead County No. 11’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
A burn rate of 0.01% a year keeps Barrhead County No. 11 in the low band (the typical Canadian town: 0.000%).
Since 1986 the nearest fire to Barrhead County No. 11’s homes came within 5.4 km, never inside 5 km.
Forest fuel rises from 3.7% within 5 km of Barrhead County No. 11 to 11% within 25 km: the fuel lies away from homes.
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 Alberta · highest of 478
At 0.01% a year, Barrhead County No. 11 is near the top in Alberta: 59th of 478, behind Wainwright (1.43%).
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.
Some fire is mapped around Barrhead County No. 11, but not enough to leave the low band, where 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are; 7.5% rank higher.
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.
Government of Alberta has mapped flooding for Barrhead County No. 11 (1 study)
Flood studies whose area touches Barrhead County No. 11, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
One study on the inventory touches Barrhead County No. 11, Government of Alberta’s from 2004, and its area can be large, so it says a map exists, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barrhead Flood Hazard Study | Government of Alberta | 2004 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Only 46% of towns in Alberta have a flood study, short of Canada’s 58%; Barrhead County No. 11 is one of them.
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 Barrhead County No. 11’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.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Barrhead County No. 11 just $0.013 per $1,000 a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
0.4 times the typical $0.030: Barrhead County No. 11’s $0.013 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The median in Alberta is $0.013; Barrhead County No. 11, at $0.013, is right beside it, and Black Diamond tops the list at $0.048.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
75% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Barrhead County No. 11.
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 Barrhead County No. 11 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).
Radon about average around Barrhead County No. 11: 9.6% over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
9.6% of tested homes around Barrhead County No. 11 were over the guideline, much like the typical Canadian town at 6.6%. For radon tests, the only official count covers all of the Aspen Regional Health Authority, Barrhead County No. 11 included.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs higher around Barrhead County No. 11 than in most towns in Alberta: 9.6% over the guideline (7.5% is typical), 0.5% over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Barrhead County No. 11 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.
Neighbouring homes in Barrhead County No. 11 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 Barrhead County No. 11
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Barrhead County No. 11; 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 Barrhead County No. 11 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 Barrhead County No. 11’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barrhead County No. 11 | Low | $0.013 | 9.6% | Yes |
| Barrhead 4,768 · 8.5 km | Low | $0.013 | 9.6% | Yes |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around Barrhead County No. 11 (low), with Barrhead next at low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Barrhead County No. 11 faces
What to do about the hazards Barrhead County No. 11 faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- 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.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Barrhead County No. 11 without grading them.
- 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 Barrhead County No. 11.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Barrhead County No. 11’s included.
- 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 Barrhead County No. 11 until then.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Barrhead County No. 11
Does Barrhead County No. 11 flood?
11 on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
How is Barrhead County No. 11’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Barrhead County No. 11 B+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
How big is the earthquake risk in Barrhead County No. 11?
Expected earthquake damage in Barrhead County No. 11 comes to $0.013 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is Barrhead County No. 11 at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0.4% of the land around Barrhead County No. 11 since 1986 (last in 2025); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Is radon a problem in Barrhead County No. 11?
Around Barrhead County No. 11, 219 survey homes were tested and 9.6% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
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).