Photo: Qyd · CC BY-SA 3.0Hazards in Aspen Woods: wildfire low, radon over the guideline in 8.1% of tested homes
Around Aspen Woods, wildfire is practically absent from the record: 0% within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. Earthquake risk in Aspen Woods is ordinary: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.023 a year per $1,000 of value, close to the typical town’s $0.030. Hazard risk gives Aspen Woods a grade of B+, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Aspen Woods’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Aspen Woods: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Aspen Woods faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Aspen Woods grades B+ for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Aspen Woods, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #282 of 474 in Alberta and #1,102 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
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.
Wildfire is rare near Aspen Woods: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Aspen Woods’ homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Around Aspen Woods fire takes 0.000% of the land in a typical year, the typical Canadian town 0.000%, which is low.
Fire has stayed at least 5.5 km from Aspen Woods’ homes since 1986.
With 3.8% forest fuel within 5 km and 4.1% within 25 km, the land around Aspen Woods gives a fire little to burn.
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 has the highest burn rate in Alberta, 1.43% a year; around Aspen Woods, as around 386 of the 478 towns, it rounds to 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.
Only 7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are above the low band, which holds 92%; Aspen Woods, at a rounded zero, is far from them.
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 Aspen Woods
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Aspen Woods: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The inventory has nothing for Aspen Woods, but a local or conservation-authority map may still exist.
Towns with a flood study on file
Aspen Woods has no flood study on file; only 46% of towns in Alberta do, against 58% across Canada.
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 Aspen Woods 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.”
Ordinary seismic risk in Aspen Woods: $0.023 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Nothing unusual about Aspen Woods’ ground: $0.023 against a typical $0.030, 0.8 times.
Behind earthquake risk sits data gathered across the city of Calgary, with Aspen Woods one part of it.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.023, Aspen Woods 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: 54% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more earthquake risk than Aspen Woods.
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 Aspen Woods’ 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 Aspen Woods: 8.1% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
8.1% of tested homes around Aspen Woods were over the guideline, much like the typical Canadian town at 6.6%. For radon tests, the only official count covers all of the Calgary Health Region, Aspen Woods included.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon around Aspen Woods 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.
A middling share of high tests puts Aspen Woods with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, below 26% of them.
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 Aspen Woods 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 Aspen Woods
Alerts for Aspen Woods 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 Aspen Woods to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Aspen Woods’ neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aspen Woods | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| West Springs 11,632 · 1.2 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Strathcona Park 8,680 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Springbank Hill 9,913 · 2.3 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Coach Hill 3,383 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Patterson 4,169 · 2.8 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Cougar Ridge 7,101 · 3.1 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Aspen Woods (low); West Springs comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Aspen Woods faces
What to do about the hazards Aspen Woods 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
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Aspen Woods’ homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- 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 Aspen Woods floods.
- 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 Aspen Woods’.
- 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 Aspen Woods sits in.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Aspen Woods
How is Aspen Woods’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Aspen Woods’ Hazard risk grade is B+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is radon a problem in Aspen Woods?
In Health Canada’s survey, 8.1% of 86 homes tested in Aspen Woods’ area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Does Aspen Woods flood?
Nothing is listed for Aspen Woods on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
How big is the earthquake risk in Aspen Woods?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Aspen Woods’ buildings lose $0.023 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is Aspen Woods at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Aspen Woods has burned since 1986, the last in 2014, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
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).