Hazards in Forest Heights: wildfire low, radon over the guideline in 8.1% of tested homes
The burned-area map is nearly blank around Forest Heights, 0% within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. For earthquakes Forest Heights is middling, $0.023 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Forest Heights a grade of B+, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Forest Heights’s hazards
For Forest Heights, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Forest Heights faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Forest Heights: B+
For Forest Heights, 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: 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.
Wildfire is rare near Forest Heights: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Forest Heights’ homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low: the land around Forest Heights burns at 0.000% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Since 1986 the nearest fire to Forest Heights’ homes came within 18 km, never inside 5 km.
Little near Forest Heights’ homes can carry a forest fire; only 0% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, and 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
Among the 478 towns in Alberta, Wainwright burns fastest (1.43% a year); Forest Heights 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.
Measured against 2,610 towns, Forest Heights is in the largest group, low (92%), and at its floor, while 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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Forest Heights
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Forest Heights: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Nationally, Forest Heights has no listed flood study; the municipality is the place to ask.
Towns with a flood study on file
Forest Heights 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 studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for Forest Heights.
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.”
Expected shaking damage in Forest Heights: $0.023 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Forest Heights’ $0.023 is close to the typical town’s $0.030 (0.8 times as much).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Forest Heights’ $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.
Forest Heights 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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Forest Heights is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean). · Not measured by town: earthquake risk (the city of Calgary)
Radon about average around Forest Heights: 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 Forest Heights were over the guideline, much like the typical Canadian town at 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Forest Heights, 8.1% of tests topped the guideline, about the same as the typical town in Alberta (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 Forest Heights’ 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.
Neighbouring homes in Forest Heights can differ a lot; only a long-term test tells you about yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests published for the Calgary Health Region, not by town
Where to get warnings in Forest Heights
Alerts for Forest Heights 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. |
Evacuation orders for Forest Heights come from the municipality or the province, while CWFIS maps fire danger every day.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Forest Heights’ neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Heights | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Marlborough 8,932 · 1.3 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Albert Park/Radisson Heights 8,433 · 1.4 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Forest Lawn 7,513 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Penbrooke Meadows 10,001 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Marlborough Park 8,378 · 2.0 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Applewood Park 6,835 · 2.8 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
Nowhere around Forest Heights burns more: Marlborough, the closest rival, is low to its low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Forest Heights faces
Practical steps for Forest Heights’ 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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- 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 Forest Heights floods.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Forest Heights’ included.
- 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 Forest Heights sits in.
- 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 Forest Heights.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Forest Heights
Is Forest Heights at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Forest Heights’ low band (0% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2014) is short of the level that counts.
How is Forest Heights’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Forest Heights B+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does Forest Heights flood?
The inventory has 0 studies for Forest Heights, and an empty list isn’t a clean bill: the municipality holds any flood maps.
Is radon a problem in Forest Heights?
The area’s survey found 8.1% of 86 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Forest Heights.
How big is the earthquake risk in Forest Heights?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Forest Heights’ buildings lose $0.023 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
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).