Photo: AuroraTiara · CC BY-SA 4.0Delton faces fewer hazards than 98% of Canadian towns
The burned-area map is nearly blank around Delton, 0% within 25 km 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. Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 1.4% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Delton a grade of A+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Delton’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Delton: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Delton faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Delton: A+
The grade weighs Delton’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 Delton: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Delton’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The land within 25 km of Delton burns at 0.000% a year on average, the low band; the typical Canadian town: 0.000%.
With 0.1% forest fuel within 5 km and 0.3% within 25 km, the land around Delton 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
Near-zero burning puts Delton 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.
Measured against 2,610 towns, Delton 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 Delton
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Delton: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Nationally, Delton has no listed flood study; the municipality is the place to ask.
Towns with a flood study on file
Delton 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.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Delton 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.”
Little shaking expected in Delton: $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: Delton’s $0.013 is low for Canada.
Behind earthquake risk sits data gathered across the city of Edmonton, with Delton one part of it.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Delton’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.
Most of Canada’s 2,611 towns (75%) face more earthquake damage than Delton.
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 Delton’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).
Little radon around Delton: 1.4% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
At 1.4% over the guideline, the area around Delton is under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Against the typical town in Alberta (7.5%), the area around Delton has fewer high tests: 1.4%.
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 Delton; 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 Delton 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). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the Capital Health
Weather and fire alerts for Delton
Alerts for Delton 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 Delton to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Delton’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delton | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Alberta Avenue 6,097 · 0.9 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Westwood 3,279 · 1.1 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Eastwood 4,681 · 1.2 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Killarney 4,165 · 1.3 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Parkdale 4,029 · 1.5 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Glengarry 3,087 · 1.9 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
Among its neighbours Delton has the most fire on record (low); Alberta Avenue follows (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Delton faces
What to do about the hazards Delton 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 Delton’s.
- 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 Delton until then.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Delton’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Delton without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Delton
Is radon a problem in Delton?
Around Delton, 73 survey homes were tested and 1.4% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How is Delton’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Delton grades A+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Delton?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Delton’s buildings lose $0.013 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Does Delton flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Delton’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
Is Delton at risk of wildfire?
Hardly at all on record: 0% of the land within 25 km of Delton since 1986, a low band, though small grass fires aren’t mapped.
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).