Photo: Ken Eckert · CC BY-SA 4.0Few places are as safe from hazards as Bentley: it beats 86% of Canadian towns
For Bentley, wildfire history is close to nil: 0% of nearby land since 1986, 0.000% a year. Seismic risk runs low: $0.009 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Radon is about average around Bentley: 7.5% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Bentley a grade of A, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Bentley’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Bentley: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Bentley faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Bentley: A
The grade weighs Bentley’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
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.
Little of the land around Bentley has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Bentley’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The land within 25 km of Bentley burns at 0.000% a year on average, the low band; the typical Canadian town: 0.000%.
Around Bentley the forest is thin or far off: 0.1% of the land within 5 km and 1.2% within 25 km is forest fuel.
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 479
Among the 479 towns in Alberta, Wainwright burns fastest (1.43% a year); Bentley is with the 387 near zero.
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.
The low band holds 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, and Bentley sits at its very bottom; only 7.5% are above it.
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 Bentley
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Bentley: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
An empty entry for Bentley on the inventory isn’t proof of safety; ask locally for flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Only 46% of towns in Alberta have a flood study, short of Canada’s 58%, and Bentley is not among them.
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 Bentley’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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Bentley just $0.009 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
0.3 times the typical $0.030: Bentley’s $0.009 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Alberta peaks in Black Diamond ($0.048); Bentley, at $0.009, is below the median of $0.013.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Bentley is in the lower part of Canada’s range for earthquake risk; 86% of the 2,611 towns are higher.
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 Bentley’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).
Radon about average around Bentley: 7.5% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the David Thompson Regional Health Authority: radon tests
7.5% of tested homes around Bentley were over the guideline, much like the typical Canadian town at 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Bentley’s area, at 7.5%, is close to the median in Alberta (7.5%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
26% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Bentley’s 5–10% band, which holds 37%.
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 Bentley as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Bentley
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Bentley; 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 Bentley, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Bentley’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bentley | Low | $0.009 | 7.5% | None listed |
| Lacombe County 11,072 · 18 km | Low | $0.014 | 7.5% | Yes |
| Sylvan Lake 17,897 · 18 km | Low | $0.013 | 7.5% | None listed |
| Blackfalds 12,258 · 19 km | Low | $0.018 | 7.5% | Yes |
Among its neighbours Bentley has the most fire on record (low); Lacombe County follows (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Bentley faces
What to do about the hazards Bentley 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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Radon is a survey. The radon share comes from about 14,000 long-term home tests in 2009–2011, pooled for now by the 2007 health region Bentley sits in.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Bentley’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as Bentley’s.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. A study’s area can be a whole watershed or province, so being on the inventory says a map exists, not that a home in Bentley floods.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Bentley
Does Bentley flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Bentley’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
How big is the earthquake risk in Bentley?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Bentley’s buildings lose $0.009 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in Bentley?
Around Bentley, 107 survey homes were tested and 7.5% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How is Bentley’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Bentley grades A for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is Bentley at risk of wildfire?
Hardly at all on record: 0% of the land within 25 km of Bentley since 1986, a low band, though small grass fires aren’t mapped.
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).