Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 4.0Flood mapping exists for Black Diamond: 1 on record, latest by Government of Alberta
Fire has left almost no mark near Black Diamond: 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.001% a year. Seismic risk in Black Diamond sits near the middle: $0.048 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Black Diamond’s survey area, 8.1% over the radon guideline, is close to the typical town’s 6.6%. Black Diamond grades B− for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Black Diamond’s hazards
For Black Diamond, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Black Diamond faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Black Diamond: B−
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Black Diamond with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #456 of 474 in Alberta and #1,631 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.
Little of the land around Black Diamond has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Black Diamond’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Forty years of fire maps put Black Diamond at 0.001% a year, low next to the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
Black Diamond’s homes have had no fire within 5 km since 1986; the closest was 19 km away.
The forest starts beyond town: 0.3% of the land within 5 km of Black Diamond’s homes is forest fuel, against 15% 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
Wainwright burns fastest in Alberta at 1.43% a year; Black Diamond, at 0.001%, ranks 79th of 478.
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 takes in 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, Black Diamond among them, though its rate is above zero; 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.
Black Diamond is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Government of Alberta
Flood studies whose area touches Black Diamond, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
A 2025 study by Government of Alberta covers Black Diamond, and its map, not the inventory, shows the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sheep River Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2025 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Alberta reaches 46% of towns, Black Diamond 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.
Nothing here counts toward Risk; the studies are pointers to the maps their owners keep for Black Diamond.
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.
Ordinary seismic risk in Black Diamond: $0.048 per $1,000 of buildings a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
With $0.048 of shaking damage a year per $1,000, Black Diamond is about even with the typical $0.030 (1.6 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Black Diamond has the highest shaking-damage figure in Alberta, $0.048 a year per $1,000; the median is $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.
In the upper part of Canada’s range: 31% of its 2,611 towns expect more damage than Black Diamond.
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).
What a quake does after the shaking, fire, landslides, tsunami, falls outside NRCan’s figure for Black Diamond.
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 Black Diamond: 8.1% over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Measured across the Calgary Health Region: radon tests
The survey area of Black Diamond reads 8.1%, a shade from the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The typical town in Alberta has 7.5% over 200 Bq/m³; Black Diamond’s area has 8.1%, much the same.
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 Black Diamond’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.
Radon varies from house to house in Black Diamond, so the survey is a reason to test, not a result for yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Black Diamond
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Black Diamond; 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 Black Diamond, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Black Diamond’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Diamond | Low | $0.048 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Turner Valley 2,784 · 3.9 km | Low | $0.039 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Foothills County 25,789 · 19 km | Low | $0.029 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Okotoks 33,482 · 19 km | Low | $0.024 | 8.1% | Yes |
The fire record around Foothills County is a touch heavier than Black Diamond’s, but the band is the same: low (here low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Black Diamond faces
What to do about the hazards Black Diamond 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
- 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 Black Diamond sits in.
- 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 Black Diamond floods.
- 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 Black Diamond.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Black Diamond’s included.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Black Diamond
Is radon a problem in Black Diamond?
In Health Canada’s survey, 8.1% of 86 homes tested in Black Diamond’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Is Black Diamond at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Black Diamond has burned since 1986, the last in 2021, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
Does Black Diamond flood?
Black Diamond’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
How big is the earthquake risk in Black Diamond?
About $0.048 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Black Diamond.
How is Black Diamond’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Black Diamond B−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
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).