Photo: Qyd · CC BY 2.5Hazards in Forest Lawn: wildfire low, radon over the guideline in 8.1% of tested homes
The burned-area map is nearly blank around Forest Lawn, 0% within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. For earthquakes Forest Lawn is middling, $0.023 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. Forest Lawn grades B+ for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Forest Lawn’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Forest Lawn: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Forest Lawn 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 Lawn: B+
The grade weighs Forest Lawn’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
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.
Wildfire is rare near Forest Lawn: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Forest Lawn’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Around Forest Lawn fire takes 0.000% of the land in a typical year, the typical Canadian town 0.000%, which is low.
The 5 km ring around Forest Lawn’s homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 17 km out.
Only 0.5% of the land within 25 km of Forest Lawn is forest fuel, and 0% close in.
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 Lawn 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.
Forest Lawn shares the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, its burn rate rounding to nothing; 7.5% burn faster.
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 Forest Lawn
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Forest Lawn: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
No flood study on the national inventory covers Forest Lawn; ask the municipality, which is the authority for its flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Alberta, 46% of towns against 58% nationally, and Forest Lawn has none.
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 Forest Lawn 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.”
Expected shaking damage in Forest Lawn: $0.023 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
With $0.023 of shaking damage a year per $1,000, Forest Lawn is about even with the typical $0.030 (0.8 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Forest Lawn’s $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 Lawn 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 model counts damage to Forest Lawn’s 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). · Data for earthquake risk covers the city of Calgary
Some radon around Forest Lawn: 8.1% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Shared with the rest of the Calgary Health Region: radon tests
The survey area of Forest Lawn reads 8.1%, a shade from the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Forest Lawn, 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.
Forest Lawn is in the 5–10% band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% have more.
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 share describes the area, not a house: in Forest Lawn as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Forest Lawn
Alerts for Forest Lawn 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 Lawn 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 Lawn’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Lawn | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Albert Park/Radisson Heights 8,433 · 1.3 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Dover 10,440 · 1.4 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Forest Heights 6,120 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Erin Woods 7,245 · 2.0 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Penbrooke Meadows 10,001 · 2.0 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Marlborough 8,932 · 2.8 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
Forest Lawn’s low band tops its neighbours; Albert Park/Radisson Heights is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Forest Lawn faces
What to do about the hazards Forest Lawn 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. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Forest Lawn’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Forest Lawn’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Forest Lawn takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- 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 Forest Lawn.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Forest Lawn
How is Forest Lawn’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Forest Lawn B+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does Forest Lawn flood?
Nothing is listed for Forest Lawn on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
Is radon a problem in Forest Lawn?
In Health Canada’s survey, 8.1% of 86 homes tested in Forest Lawn’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How big is the earthquake risk in Forest Lawn?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Forest Lawn’s buildings lose $0.023 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is Forest Lawn at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Forest Lawn 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).