Photo: dave_7 from Lethbridge, Canada · CC BY 2.0Coaldale’s hazards at a glance: a low wildfire record and 8.9% of area homes over the radon guideline
Burn scars are few around Coaldale, with 0.7% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.02% a year). For earthquakes Coaldale is middling, $0.027 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Coaldale a grade of B−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Coaldale’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Coaldale: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Coaldale faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Coaldale grades B− for hazard risk
For Coaldale, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
Its place: #452 of 474 in Alberta and #1,576 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 Coaldale: 0% within 5 km, 0.7% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Coaldale’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
In a typical year 0.02% of the land near Coaldale burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
The 5 km ring around Coaldale’s homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 20 km out.
Only 0% of the land within 25 km of Coaldale is forest fuel, and 0.1% 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
The land around Coaldale burns at 0.02% a year, the 52nd highest rate of 478 towns in Alberta; Wainwright tops it 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.
Coaldale is in the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 7.5% sit in moderate or 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 Coaldale
Flood studies whose area touches Coaldale, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
No flood study on the national inventory covers Coaldale; 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 Coaldale 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 Coaldale 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 Coaldale: $0.027 a year per $1,000
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
At $0.027 per $1,000, Coaldale’s earthquake risk is about the typical Canadian town’s ($0.030; 0.9 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Coaldale’s $0.027 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.
Coaldale sits mid-range among Canada’s 2,611 towns: 53% 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 loss is to Coaldale’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).
8.9% of homes tested around Coaldale are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Near the middle for radon: Coaldale’s area 8.9%, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
0.9% of tests around Coaldale passed 600 Bq/m³; over 200, its 8.9% matches the median in Alberta, 7.5%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Radon tops the guideline in a modest share of homes around Coaldale, a band holding 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% rank above.
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.
Basements, soil and how a house is sealed decide its radon, so in Coaldale only a test can say.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the Chinook Regional Health Authority
Weather and fire alerts for Coaldale
Alerts for Coaldale 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. |
Fire danger and active fires near Coaldale are mapped daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System; evacuation orders come from the municipality or province.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Coaldale
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coaldale | Low | $0.027 | 8.9% | None listed |
| Lethbridge 113,671 · 16 km | Moderate | $0.025 | 8.9% | Yes |
| Lethbridge County 10,988 · 18 km | Low | $0.024 | 8.9% | Yes |
The heaviest fire record nearby is Lethbridge’s, moderate to Coaldale’s low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Coaldale faces
Practical steps for Coaldale’s 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. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Coaldale without grading them.
- Radon is a survey. Radon figures pool the survey’s home tests by area: postal areas once their boundaries arrive, the 2007 health region around Coaldale until then.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Coaldale’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Coaldale’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Coaldale
Does Coaldale flood?
No study on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory covers Coaldale (0), which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped, so ask the municipality.
How is Coaldale’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Coaldale grades B− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is Coaldale at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Coaldale’s band is low, with 0.7% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2012), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Coaldale?
About $0.027 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Coaldale.
Is radon a problem in Coaldale?
8.9% of the 112 homes Health Canada tested around Coaldale topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
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).