Photo: Joli Rumi · CC BY-SA 4.0Hazard risk in Avonmore is lower than in 98% of Canadian towns
Wildfire isn’t Avonmore’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. Radon is lower than usual: 1.4% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Avonmore grades A+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Avonmore’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Avonmore: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Avonmore faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Avonmore: A+
The grade weighs Avonmore’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: #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. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Wildfire is rare near Avonmore: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Avonmore’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Avonmore burns at 0.000% a year, low against 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Around Avonmore the forest is thin or far off: 0.1% of the land within 5 km and 0.4% 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
Among the 478 towns in Alberta, Wainwright burns fastest (1.43% a year); Avonmore 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, Avonmore 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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Avonmore
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Avonmore: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Nationally, Avonmore has no listed flood study; the municipality is the place to ask.
Towns with a flood study on file
Avonmore has no flood study on file; only 46% of towns in Alberta do, against 58% across Canada.
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 Avonmore’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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Avonmore just $0.013 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Avonmore’s $0.013 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.4 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Avonmore’s $0.013 is close to the median in Alberta, $0.013; Black Diamond is highest at $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.
75% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Avonmore.
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).
Roads, pipes and bridges aren’t in Avonmore’s figure, nor landslides or tsunami: it is buildings and shaking.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean). · Data for earthquake risk covers the city of Edmonton
Little radon around Avonmore: 1.4% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the Capital Health: radon tests
At 1.4% over the guideline, the area around Avonmore is under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Avonmore’s area, at 1.4%, is below 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 rarely tops the guideline around Avonmore, as for 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 63% see 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.
One home in Avonmore 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 Avonmore
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Avonmore; 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 Avonmore come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Avonmore
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avonmore | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| King Edward Park 8,399 · 1.5 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Hazeldean 3,247 · 1.5 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Ritchie 5,215 · 1.9 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Bonnie Doon 6,697 · 2.1 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Holyrood 3,305 · 2.8 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Tweddle Place 5,211 · 3.1 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Avonmore (low); King Edward Park comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Avonmore faces
What to do about the hazards Avonmore 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
- 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 Avonmore’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Avonmore’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- 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 Avonmore until then.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Avonmore without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Avonmore
Does Avonmore flood?
Nothing is listed for Avonmore on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
How big is the earthquake risk in Avonmore?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Avonmore $0.013 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is radon a problem in Avonmore?
In Health Canada’s survey, 1.4% of 73 homes tested in Avonmore’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Is Avonmore at risk of wildfire?
No meaningful wildfire history near Avonmore: 0% of nearby land since 1986, band low.
How is Avonmore’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Avonmore’s Hazard risk grade is A+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
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).