Hawkwood’s hazards at a glance: a low wildfire record and 8.1% of area homes over the radon guideline
Little of the land around Hawkwood has burned: 0% within 25 km since 1986, or 0.000% a year. Seismic risk in Hawkwood sits near the middle: $0.023 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Hawkwood grades B+ for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Hawkwood’s hazards
For Hawkwood, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Hawkwood faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hawkwood grades B+ for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Hawkwood with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
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. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Few fires near Hawkwood: 0.1% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Hawkwood’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
At 0.000% of the land a year, Hawkwood’s burn rate is in the low band; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
With 0.2% forest fuel within 5 km and 1.1% within 25 km, the land around Hawkwood gives a fire little to burn.
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); Hawkwood 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, Hawkwood 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.
No flood study is listed for Hawkwood
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Hawkwood: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
An empty entry for Hawkwood on the inventory isn’t proof of safety; ask locally for flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Only 46% of towns in Alberta have a flood study, short of Canada’s 58%, and Hawkwood is not among them.
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 Hawkwood 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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Hawkwood $0.023 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Hawkwood’s $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
The typical town in Alberta expects $0.013 a year; Hawkwood 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.
Hawkwood 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 Hawkwood 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). · Area behind the earthquake risk figures: the city of Calgary
Radon about average around Hawkwood: 8.1% 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
Around Hawkwood, 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
The typical town in Alberta has 7.5% over 200 Bq/m³; Hawkwood’s area has 8.1%, much the same.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Hawkwood 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.
Neighbouring homes in Hawkwood 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).
Where to get warnings in Hawkwood
Alerts for Hawkwood 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 Hawkwood 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 Hawkwood’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawkwood | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Ranchlands 7,376 · 1.5 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Citadel 10,196 · 2.0 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Edgemont 15,359 · 2.0 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Arbour Lake 10,454 · 2.3 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Dalhousie 8,617 · 2.5 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Hamptons 7,342 · 2.5 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
Citadel burns a little more than Hawkwood, in the same low band (low here).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Hawkwood faces
What to do about the hazards Hawkwood 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. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Hawkwood.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Hawkwood takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Hawkwood’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Wildfire counts one way. For Hawkwood, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Hawkwood
Does Hawkwood flood?
Nothing is listed for Hawkwood on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
How is Hawkwood’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hawkwood grades B+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is Hawkwood at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Hawkwood has burned since 1986, the last in 2018, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How big is the earthquake risk in Hawkwood?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Hawkwood $0.023 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is radon a problem in Hawkwood?
In Health Canada’s survey, 8.1% of 86 homes tested in Hawkwood’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
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).