Callingwood South faces fewer hazards than 98% of Canadian towns
The national fire record shows next to nothing around Callingwood South, 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.000% a year). Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.013 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Radon is lower than usual: 1.4% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Callingwood South a grade of A+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Callingwood South’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Callingwood South: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Callingwood South faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Callingwood South: A+
Two inputs always count for Callingwood South, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #11 of 474 in Alberta and #22 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Only 73 homes were tested in the survey area, so the radon share is rough. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Few fires near Callingwood South: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Callingwood South’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Callingwood South is 0.000%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Since 1986 the nearest fire to Callingwood South’s homes came within 21 km, never inside 5 km.
With 0.6% forest fuel within 5 km and 0.6% within 25 km, the land around Callingwood South 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); Callingwood South 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.
Most of the country’s 2,610 towns are low-band (92%, against 7.5% above); around Callingwood South, burning 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.
No flood study is listed for Callingwood South
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Callingwood South: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
An empty entry for Callingwood South on the inventory isn’t proof of safety; ask locally for flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
No study touches Callingwood South; in Alberta, 46% of towns have one, below Canada’s 58%.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Callingwood South’s homes stand in a flood zone.
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 Callingwood South just $0.013 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Callingwood South’s $0.013 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.4 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Nobody publishes earthquake risk for Callingwood South alone, so this card uses the figure for the city of Edmonton.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk around Callingwood South ($0.013) matches the middle in Alberta ($0.013), far from Black Diamond’s $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.
Callingwood South is in the lower part of Canada’s range for earthquake risk; 75% of the 2,611 towns are higher.
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 Callingwood South’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).
1.4% of homes tested around Callingwood South are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the Capital Health: radon tests
Callingwood South’s survey area reads 1.4% over the guideline, under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs lower around Callingwood South than in most towns in Alberta: 1.4% against 7.5%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
The quietest radon band, under 5%, holds 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns and Callingwood South; 63% sit higher.
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 Callingwood South 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 Callingwood South
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Callingwood South; 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 Callingwood South come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Callingwood South’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Callingwood South | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| River Valley Oleskiw 9,922 · 1.2 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Ormsby Place 4,412 · 1.5 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Thorncliff 3,564 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Lymburn 7,231 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Elmwood 2,522 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Patricia Heights 4,355 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
Nowhere around Callingwood South burns more: River Valley Oleskiw, the closest rival, is low to its low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Callingwood South faces
What to do about the hazards Callingwood South 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. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Callingwood South takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Callingwood South’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- 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 Callingwood South.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Callingwood South’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Callingwood South
Does Callingwood South flood?
Nothing is listed for Callingwood South on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
Is Callingwood South at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Callingwood South has burned since 1986, the last in 2023, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How big is the earthquake risk in Callingwood South?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Callingwood South $0.013 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is radon a problem in Callingwood South?
In Health Canada’s survey, 1.4% of 73 homes tested in Callingwood South’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How is Callingwood South’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Callingwood South’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).