Photo: Andrawaag · CC BY-SA 4.0Big Lakes County faces more hazards than 96% of Canadian towns
Wildfire is a real hazard for Big Lakes County: 14% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, 0.35% a year, in the high band. Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.012 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. Radon is about average around Big Lakes County: 8.9% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Big Lakes County a grade of D−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Big Lakes County’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Big Lakes County: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Big Lakes County faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Big Lakes County grades D− for hazard risk
The grade weighs Big Lakes County’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
Its place: #467 of 474 in Alberta and #2,553 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
A high wildfire band for Big Lakes County: 11% within 5 km, 14% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Big Lakes County’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
High: the land around Big Lakes County burns at 0.35% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
There is forest near Big Lakes County’s homes (18% within 5 km) and more of it further out (33% 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 Alberta · highest of 478
In the top quarter in Alberta: Big Lakes County ranks 8th of 478 at 0.35% a year, with Wainwright first at 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.
High is rare: 1.9% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, Big Lakes County 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 Big Lakes County
Flood studies whose area touches Big Lakes County, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
No flood study on the national inventory covers Big Lakes County; ask the municipality, which is the authority for its 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 Big Lakes County 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 mapping is shown for Big Lakes County to be opened and checked, never turned into a grade.
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 Big Lakes County: $0.012 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.
0.4 times the typical $0.030: Big Lakes County’s $0.012 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The median in Alberta is $0.013; Big Lakes County, at $0.012, 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.
Earthquakes cost less around Big Lakes County than in 84% of Canada’s 2,611 towns.
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 Big Lakes County’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).
8.9% of homes tested around Big Lakes County are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Measured across the Peace Country Health: radon tests
At 8.9% over the guideline, the area around Big Lakes County is about level with the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Big Lakes County’s area, at 8.9%, is close to the median in Alberta (7.5%); 1% of its tests passed 600 Bq/m³.
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 Big Lakes County’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.
Basements, soil and how a house is sealed decide its radon, so in Big Lakes County only a test can say.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Big Lakes County
Alerts for Big Lakes County come from Environment and Climate Change Canada and, for emergencies, Alert Ready.
| 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. |
Alert Ready carries evacuation orders for Big Lakes County to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what Big Lakes County faces
What to do about the hazards Big Lakes County 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
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Big Lakes County’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- 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 Big Lakes County.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Big Lakes County’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Big Lakes County takes its 2007 health region’s share.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Big Lakes County
How big is the earthquake risk in Big Lakes County?
About $0.012 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Big Lakes County.
How is Big Lakes County’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Big Lakes County D−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is Big Lakes County at risk of wildfire?
More than most Canadian towns; Big Lakes County’s high band rests on 14% of nearby land burned since 1986 (most recently 2025).
Is radon a problem in Big Lakes County?
Around Big Lakes County, 203 survey homes were tested and 8.9% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Does Big Lakes County flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Big Lakes County’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
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).