Photo: Neil · CC BY 2.0Hazard risk in Devon is lower than in 98% of Canadian towns
Wildfire isn’t Devon’s worry: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (0.000% a year). Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.013 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. In Health Canada’s survey, just 1.4% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Devon a grade of A+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Devon’s hazards
For Devon, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Devon faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Devon grades A+ for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Devon with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #11 of 474 in Alberta and #22 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The radon share rests on 73 home tests in the survey area, so a few homes move it. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Wildfire is rare near Devon: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Devon’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Devon burns at 0.000% a year, low against 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Devon’s homes have had no fire within 5 km since 1986; the closest was 5.9 km away.
Around Devon the forest is thin or far off: 1.6% of the land within 5 km and 0.7% 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
Fire has taken almost none of the land around Devon, as for 386 of the 478 towns in Alberta; Wainwright tops the list 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.
92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are in the low band and 7.5% above it; Devon is among the many where the yearly burn rate rounds to zero.
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.
A flood study covers Devon, from Government of Alberta: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Devon: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
A 2024 study by Government of Alberta covers Devon, and its map, not the inventory, shows the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Saskatchewan River Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2024 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study sets Devon apart in Alberta, where 46% of towns have one (Canada: 58%).
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Devon’s homes are at risk.
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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Little shaking expected in Devon: $0.013 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
0.4 times the typical $0.030: Devon’s $0.013 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
About level with the typical town in Alberta: Devon’s $0.013 against $0.013; 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.
Most of Canada’s 2,611 towns (75%) face more earthquake damage than Devon.
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).
For Devon the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
1.4% of homes tested around Devon are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Devon’s survey area reads 1.4% over the guideline, under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Devon doesn’t get its own radon tests figures; the ones here come from the Capital Health.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Fewer homes top the guideline around Devon (1.4%) than in 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.
Devon is in the lowest band, with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns: under 5% of tests over the guideline, while 63% 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 Devon 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 Devon
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Devon; 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. |
For fires near Devon, the national fire information system maps danger and active fires daily; local authorities give any evacuation order.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Devon
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devon | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Keswick 3,957 · 9.9 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Calmar 2,345 · 11 km | Low | $0.015 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Chappelle 14,815 · 11 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Glenridding Heights 4,388 · 11 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Windermere 14,922 · 12 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Ambleside 7,733 · 12 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
Devon’s low band tops its neighbours; Keswick is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Devon faces
What to do about the hazards Devon 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?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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 Devon until then.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Devon, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Devon without grading them.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Devon’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
Questions about flooding and hazards in Devon
Is radon a problem in Devon?
Around Devon, 73 survey homes were tested and 1.4% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Is Devon at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Devon since 1986 (last in 2023); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How is Devon’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Devon grades A+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Does Devon flood?
A flood study covers Devon on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
How big is the earthquake risk in Devon?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Devon $0.013 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
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).