Wildfire low, radon 8.1%: how Erin Woods stands on hazards
The national fire record shows next to nothing around Erin Woods, 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.000% a year). NRCan expects $0.023 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in Erin Woods, near the typical $0.030. Erin Woods grades B+ for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Erin Woods’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Erin Woods: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Erin Woods faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Erin Woods: B+
Two inputs always count for Erin 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: 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 Erin Woods: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Erin Woods’ homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Forty years of fire maps put Erin Woods at 0.000% a year, low next to the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
The 5 km ring around Erin Woods’ homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 16 km out.
Forest fuel is scarce around Erin Woods: 0% of the land within 5 km, 0.5% 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
Little or nothing burns around Erin Woods in a typical year; 386 of the 478 towns in Alberta share that, and Wainwright leads 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.
Only 7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are above the low band, which holds 92%; Erin 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.
No flood study is listed for Erin Woods
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Erin Woods: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The inventory has nothing for Erin Woods, but a local or conservation-authority map may still exist.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Alberta, 46% of towns against 58% nationally, and Erin Woods has none.
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 Erin Woods.
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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Erin Woods $0.023 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
With $0.023 of shaking damage a year per $1,000, Erin Woods is about even with the typical $0.030 (0.8 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Erin Woods’ $0.023 tops the median in Alberta, $0.013, though Black Diamond reaches $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.
Erin Woods sits mid-range among Canada’s 2,611 towns: 54% expect more shaking damage.
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 Erin Woods’ 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
Radon about average around Erin Woods: 8.1% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Near the middle for radon: Erin Woods’ area 8.1%, the typical Canadian town 6.6%. For radon tests, the only official count covers all of the Calgary Health Region, Erin Woods included.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon around Erin 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 Erin 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.
The survey sampled homes around Erin Woods; it can’t tell you your basement’s level.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Erin Woods
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Erin Woods; 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 Erin Woods, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Erin 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erin Woods | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Dover 10,440 · 1.3 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Forest Lawn 7,513 · 2.0 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Penbrooke Meadows 10,001 · 3.1 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Albert Park/Radisson Heights 8,433 · 3.1 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Forest Heights 6,120 · 3.5 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Applewood Park 6,835 · 3.8 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Erin Woods (low); Dover comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Erin Woods faces
What to do about the hazards Erin 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
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Erin Woods is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Erin 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. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Erin Woods.
- 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 Erin Woods’.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Erin Woods
How is Erin Woods’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Erin Woods’ Hazard risk grade is B+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is Erin Woods at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Erin Woods has burned since 1986, the last in 2014, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
Does Erin Woods flood?
Nothing is listed for Erin Woods on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
Is radon a problem in Erin Woods?
In Health Canada’s survey, 8.1% of 86 homes tested in Erin Woods’ area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How big is the earthquake risk in Erin Woods?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Erin Woods $0.023 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
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).