Photo: Annette Teng · CC BY 3.0Flood mapping exists for Bighorn No. 8: 3 on record, latest by Government of Alberta
The burn rate around Bighorn No. 8 is 0.07% a year (2.5% of the land within 25 km since 1986), a moderate band. Seismic risk in Bighorn No. 8 sits near the middle: $0.031 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. In Health Canada’s survey, 8.1% of homes tested in Bighorn No. 8’s area exceeded 200 Bq/m³, close to the typical 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Bighorn No. 8 a grade of B; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Bighorn No. 8’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Bighorn No. 8: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Bighorn No. 8 faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Bighorn No. 8 grades B for hazard risk
The grade weighs Bighorn No. 8’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.
A moderate wildfire record for Bighorn No. 8: 2.5% within 25 km burned, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Bighorn No. 8’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The yearly burn rate around Bighorn No. 8 is 0.07%, above 0.000% for the typical Canadian town but under the high band.
Fire has stayed at least 5.7 km from Bighorn No. 8’s homes since 1986.
More forest grows near Bighorn No. 8’s homes (70% within 5 km) than across 25 km (55%).
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
At 0.07% a year, Bighorn No. 8 is near the top in Alberta: 32nd of 479, 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.
Bighorn No. 8 is in the moderate band, which holds 5.4% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 2.1% 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.
3 flood studies cover Bighorn No. 8, the newest from Government of Alberta
Flood studies whose area touches Bighorn No. 8, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Government of Alberta and others have studied flooding in areas that include Bighorn No. 8: 3 studies, the latest from 2024.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Bow River Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2024 | final |
| Upper Red Deer River Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2024 | final |
| Cougar Creek Flood Hazard Study | Government of Alberta | 1994 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Alberta reaches 46% of towns, Bighorn No. 8 among them, below the 58% across Canada.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The 2020s brought the most flood studies for Bighorn No. 8 (2 of 3), the first dating from the 1990s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Bighorn No. 8.
Flood is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Bighorn No. 8’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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Bighorn No. 8 $0.031 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.
At $0.031 per $1,000, Bighorn No. 8’s earthquake risk is the typical Canadian town’s $0.030.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.031, Bighorn No. 8 is above the typical town in Alberta ($0.013); Black Diamond has the most 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.
Middle of the pack: 48% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more earthquake risk than Bighorn No. 8.
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 Bighorn No. 8’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).
8.1% of homes tested around Bighorn No. 8 are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
8.1% of tested homes around Bighorn No. 8 were over the guideline, much like the typical Canadian town at 6.6%. Bighorn No. 8 doesn’t get its own radon tests figures; the ones here come from the Calgary Health Region.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon around Bighorn No. 8 is ordinary for towns in Alberta: 8.1%, beside a median of 7.5%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Bighorn No. 8 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.
A survey sample isn’t a map: any home in Bighorn No. 8 can be high, and a three-month test is the only way to know.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Bighorn No. 8
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Bighorn No. 8; 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. |
For fires near Bighorn No. 8, the national fire information system maps danger and active fires daily; local authorities give any evacuation order.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Bighorn No. 8’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bighorn No. 8 | Moderate | $0.031 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Canmore 17,341 · 12 km | Moderate | $0.034 | 8.1% | Yes |
Canmore burns a little more than Bighorn No. 8, in the same moderate band (moderate here).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Bighorn No. 8 faces
What to do about the hazards Bighorn No. 8 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?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- 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. 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 Bighorn No. 8 floods.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Bighorn No. 8’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 Bighorn No. 8’s.
- 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 Bighorn No. 8 sits in.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Bighorn No. 8
How is Bighorn No. 8’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Bighorn No. 8’s Hazard risk grade is B, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Does Bighorn No. 8 flood?
Bighorn No. 8’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
Is radon a problem in Bighorn No. 8?
Around Bighorn No. 8, 86 survey homes were tested and 8.1% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How big is the earthquake risk in Bighorn No. 8?
Expected earthquake damage in Bighorn No. 8 comes to $0.031 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is Bighorn No. 8 at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 2.5% of the land around Bighorn No. 8 since 1986 (last in 2024); at moderate, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
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).