Hazards in Sherwood: wildfire low, radon over the guideline in 8.1% of tested homes
Wildfire barely registers for Sherwood, at 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.000% a year). Seismic risk in Sherwood sits near the middle: $0.023 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Sherwood grades B+ for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Sherwood’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Sherwood: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Sherwood faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Sherwood grades B+ for hazard risk
The grade weighs Sherwood’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: 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.
Wildfire is rare near Sherwood: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Sherwood’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
At 0.000% of the land a year, Sherwood’s burn rate is in the low band; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
The closest burn since 1986 lies 8.7 km from Sherwood’s homes, none within 5 km.
Around Sherwood the forest is thin or far off: 0% of the land within 5 km and 0.6% 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
Near-zero burning puts Sherwood with 386 of the 478 towns in Alberta, far below Wainwright 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.
The low band holds 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, and Sherwood 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 Sherwood
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Sherwood: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
An empty entry for Sherwood 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 Sherwood is not among them.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Sherwood floods.
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 Sherwood: $0.023 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Nothing unusual about Sherwood’s ground: $0.023 against a typical $0.030, 0.8 times.
For earthquake risk, the only official count covers all of the city of Calgary, Sherwood included.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Sherwood’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.
Sherwood 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 Sherwood’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).
Radon about average around Sherwood: 8.1% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
The survey area of Sherwood reads 8.1%, a shade from 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; Sherwood’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.
A middling share of high tests puts Sherwood 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.
A survey sample isn’t a map: any home in Sherwood can be high, and a three-month test is the only way to know.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the Calgary Health Region
Weather and fire alerts for Sherwood
Alerts for Sherwood 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. |
Alert Ready carries evacuation orders for Sherwood to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Sherwood’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sherwood | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Kincora 7,290 · 1.2 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Nolan Hill 8,581 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Sage Hill 7,974 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Hamptons 7,342 · 1.9 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Citadel 10,196 · 2.5 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Hidden Valley 10,614 · 2.9 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
The fire record around Citadel is a touch heavier than Sherwood’s, but the band is the same: low (here low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Sherwood faces
What to do about the hazards Sherwood 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. The radon share comes from about 14,000 long-term home tests in 2009–2011, pooled for now by the 2007 health region Sherwood sits in.
- 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 Sherwood floods.
- 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 Sherwood’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Sherwood’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Sherwood
How is Sherwood’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Sherwood grades B+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is radon a problem in Sherwood?
Around Sherwood, 86 survey homes were tested and 8.1% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Does Sherwood flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Sherwood’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
Is Sherwood at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Sherwood since 1986 (last in 2017); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Sherwood?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Sherwood’s 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).