Photo: jasonwoodhead23 · CC BY 2.0Few places are as safe from hazards as Rhatigan Ridge: it beats 98% of Canadian towns
The national fire record shows next to nothing around Rhatigan Ridge, 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. Rhatigan Ridge grades A+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Rhatigan Ridge’s hazards
For Rhatigan Ridge, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Rhatigan Ridge faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Rhatigan Ridge: A+
Two inputs always count for Rhatigan Ridge, 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: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Only 73 homes were tested in the survey area, so the radon share is rough. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Few fires near Rhatigan Ridge: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Rhatigan Ridge’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
A burn rate of 0.000% a year keeps Rhatigan Ridge in the low band (the typical Canadian town: 0.000%).
Rhatigan Ridge’s homes have had no fire within 5 km since 1986; the closest was 20 km away.
Forest makes up 1.3% of the land within 5 km of Rhatigan Ridge and 0.5% within 25 km, little for a forest fire to run through.
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 Rhatigan Ridge, 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.
The low band holds 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, and Rhatigan Ridge sits at its very bottom; only 7.5% are above it.
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 Rhatigan Ridge, from Government of Alberta: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Rhatigan Ridge: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Government of Alberta studied flooding in an area that includes Rhatigan Ridge (2024); open its map to see which streets lie in a flood zone.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Saskatchewan River Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2024 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Alberta, 46% of towns against 58% nationally, but Rhatigan Ridge has one.
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 Rhatigan Ridge 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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Little shaking expected in Rhatigan Ridge: $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: Rhatigan Ridge’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: Rhatigan Ridge’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.
Rhatigan Ridge 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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Rhatigan Ridge is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean). · Earthquake risk: one figure for all of the city of Edmonton
Radon runs low around Rhatigan Ridge: 1.4% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the Capital Health
Radon runs below the typical Canadian town (6.6%) in Rhatigan Ridge’s area, at 1.4%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The median in Alberta is 7.5% over 200 Bq/m³; around Rhatigan Ridge it is 1.4%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Rhatigan Ridge 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.
Radon varies from house to house in Rhatigan Ridge, so the survey is a reason to test, not a result for yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Rhatigan Ridge
Alerts for Rhatigan Ridge 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. |
Evacuation orders for Rhatigan Ridge come from the municipality or the province, while CWFIS maps fire danger every day.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Rhatigan Ridge’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rhatigan Ridge | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Haddow 4,026 · 1.9 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Bulyea Heights 3,264 · 1.9 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Ramsay Heights 3,434 · 1.9 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Leger 4,108 · 2.0 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Cameron Heights 3,710 · 2.2 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Brookside 3,173 · 2.5 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Rhatigan Ridge (low); Haddow comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Rhatigan Ridge faces
What to do about the hazards Rhatigan Ridge 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
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Rhatigan Ridge’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Radon is a survey. The radon share comes from about 14,000 long-term home tests in 2009–2011, pooled for now by the 2007 health region Rhatigan Ridge sits in.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. A study’s area can be a whole watershed or province, so being on the inventory says a map exists, not that a home in Rhatigan Ridge floods.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Rhatigan Ridge, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Rhatigan Ridge
Is Rhatigan Ridge at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Rhatigan Ridge since 1986 (last in 2023); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Does Rhatigan Ridge flood?
Rhatigan Ridge’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
Is radon a problem in Rhatigan Ridge?
Around Rhatigan Ridge, 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 Rhatigan Ridge’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Rhatigan Ridge 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 Rhatigan Ridge?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Rhatigan Ridge $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).