Photo: outofthought · CC BY-SA 3.0A flood study covers Discovery Ridge: 1 on the national inventory, the newest from Government of Alberta
No wildfire is mapped within 25 km of Discovery Ridge’s homes since 1986 (0% of the land, 0.000% a year). Shaking is about as much of a worry in Discovery Ridge as in most places, at $0.023 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). About as many homes carry radon around Discovery Ridge as elsewhere, 8.1% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Discovery Ridge a grade of B+, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Discovery Ridge’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Discovery Ridge: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Discovery Ridge faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Discovery Ridge: B+
For Discovery Ridge, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
Its place: #282 of 474 in Alberta and #1,102 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.
Few fires near Discovery Ridge: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Discovery Ridge’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Fire claims 0.000% of the land around Discovery Ridge each year, a low band, with the typical Canadian town at 0.000%.
No fire has burned within 5 km of Discovery Ridge’s homes since 1986; the nearest burn is 8.5 km away.
The forest starts beyond town: 4.6% of the land within 5 km of Discovery Ridge’s homes is forest fuel, against 5.4% 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
Among the 478 towns in Alberta, Wainwright burns fastest (1.43% a year); Discovery Ridge is with the 386 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.
Only 7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are above the low band, which holds 92%; Discovery Ridge, 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.
Government of Alberta has mapped flooding for Discovery Ridge (1 study)
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Discovery Ridge: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
One study on the inventory touches Discovery Ridge, Government of Alberta’s from 2025, and its area can be large, so it says a map exists, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bow and Elbow River Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2025 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Alberta, 46% of towns against 58% nationally, but Discovery Ridge has one.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Discovery Ridge’s homes are at risk.
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 Discovery Ridge: $0.023 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Earthquake losses in Discovery Ridge, $0.023 per $1,000, are in line with the typical $0.030 (0.8 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in Alberta expects $0.013 a year; Discovery Ridge expects $0.023, and Black Diamond $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.
Discovery Ridge’s earthquake risk lands near the centre of Canada’s range; 54% 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 loss is to Discovery Ridge’s buildings alone, from ground shaking; infrastructure and secondary hazards are left out.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean). · Area behind the earthquake risk figures: the city of Calgary
8.1% of homes tested around Discovery Ridge are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Source area for radon tests: the Calgary Health Region
Discovery Ridge’s area, at 8.1%, is close to the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon around Discovery Ridge 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.
37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns share Discovery Ridge’s band of 5 to 10%; 26% sit higher.
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 Discovery Ridge 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 Discovery Ridge
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Discovery Ridge; 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 Discovery Ridge, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Discovery Ridge’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery Ridge | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Springbank Hill 9,913 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Aspen Woods 9,606 · 3.2 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Signal Hill 13,293 · 3.5 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Strathcona Park 8,680 · 4.3 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| West Springs 11,632 · 4.4 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Glamorgan 6,479 · 4.5 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around Discovery Ridge (low), with Springbank Hill next at low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Discovery Ridge faces
Practical steps for Discovery Ridge’s hazards, most pressing first.
- 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. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Discovery Ridge takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Discovery Ridge’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- 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 Discovery Ridge.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Discovery Ridge’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Discovery Ridge
Is Discovery Ridge at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Discovery Ridge’s band is low, with 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2014), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
How is Discovery Ridge’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Discovery Ridge grades B+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Discovery Ridge?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Discovery Ridge’s buildings lose $0.023 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in Discovery Ridge?
8.1% of the 86 homes Health Canada tested around Discovery Ridge topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
Does Discovery Ridge flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Discovery Ridge; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in 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).