Photo: Jack Hope from Calgary, Canada · CC BY 2.0Wildfire low, radon 8.1%: how Glamorgan stands on hazards
For Glamorgan, wildfire history is close to nil: 0% of nearby land since 1986, 0.000% a year. NRCan expects $0.023 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in Glamorgan, near the typical $0.030. Hazard risk gives Glamorgan a grade of B+, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Glamorgan’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Glamorgan: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Glamorgan faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Glamorgan: B+
Two inputs always count for Glamorgan, 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.
Few fires near Glamorgan: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Glamorgan’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Low by Canadian standards: 0.000% of the land a year around Glamorgan, 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Fire has stayed at least 9.2 km from Glamorgan’s homes since 1986.
Around Glamorgan the forest is thin or far off: 2.2% of the land within 5 km and 2.8% within 25 km is forest fuel.
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
To three decimals the burn rate around Glamorgan is zero, as for 386 of the 478 towns in Alberta, while Wainwright reaches 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.
The low band holds 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, and Glamorgan sits at its very bottom; only 7.5% are above it.
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 Glamorgan
Flood studies whose area touches Glamorgan, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
The inventory has nothing for Glamorgan, 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 Glamorgan has none.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Glamorgan’s homes stand in a flood zone.
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 Glamorgan $0.023 per $1,000 a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
Glamorgan’s $0.023 is close to the typical town’s $0.030 (0.8 times as much).
For earthquake risk, the only official count covers all of the city of Calgary, Glamorgan included.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Alberta peaks in Black Diamond ($0.048); Glamorgan, at $0.023, sits above the median of $0.013.
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 Glamorgan.
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 Glamorgan’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).
Some radon around Glamorgan: 8.1% of area homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Measured across the Calgary Health Region: radon tests
Around Glamorgan, 8.1% of tested homes topped the guideline, near the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon around Glamorgan 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 Glamorgan 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.
One home in Glamorgan can be high while next door is low; a three-month test settles it.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Glamorgan
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Glamorgan; 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for Glamorgan come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Glamorgan’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glamorgan | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Glenbrook 10,185 · 1.5 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Currie Barracks 7,342 · 1.5 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Signal Hill 13,293 · 1.9 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Killarney/Glengarry 7,935 · 2.6 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Garrison Woods 3,138 · 2.7 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Rosscarrock 3,862 · 2.9 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
Glamorgan’s low band tops its neighbours; Glenbrook is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Glamorgan faces
What to do about the hazards Glamorgan 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
- 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 Glamorgan floods.
- 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 Glamorgan sits in.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Glamorgan’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- 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 Glamorgan’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Glamorgan
Is Glamorgan at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Glamorgan since 1986 (last in 2014); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How is Glamorgan’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Glamorgan grades B+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Does Glamorgan flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Glamorgan’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
Is radon a problem in Glamorgan?
Around Glamorgan, 86 survey homes were tested and 8.1% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How big is the earthquake risk in Glamorgan?
Expected earthquake damage in Glamorgan comes to $0.023 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
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).