Hazard risk in Woodcroft is lower than in 98% of Canadian towns
The national fire record shows next to nothing around Woodcroft, 0% of the land 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 Woodcroft a grade of A+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Woodcroft’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Woodcroft: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Woodcroft faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Woodcroft grades A+ for hazard risk
For Woodcroft, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
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.
Wildfire is rare near Woodcroft: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Woodcroft’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Forty years of fire maps put Woodcroft at 0.000% a year, low next to the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
Little near Woodcroft’s homes can carry a forest fire; only 0% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, and 0.4% within 25 km.
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
Wainwright has the highest burn rate in Alberta, 1.43% a year; around Woodcroft, as around 386 of the 478 towns, it rounds to 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.
92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are in the low band and 7.5% above it; Woodcroft 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.
No flood study is listed for Woodcroft
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Woodcroft: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The inventory has nothing for Woodcroft, but a local or conservation-authority map may still exist.
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Alberta reaches 46% of towns, below the 58% across Canada, and not Woodcroft.
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 Woodcroft’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.”
Little shaking expected in Woodcroft: $0.013 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Shaking costs the typical town $0.030 a year; in Woodcroft it is only $0.013, 0.4 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Shaking damage around Woodcroft runs at $0.013 a year, near the $0.013 of the typical town in Alberta; Black Diamond has $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 Woodcroft.
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 Woodcroft’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). · Area behind the earthquake risk figures: the city of Edmonton
Little radon around Woodcroft: 1.4% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · The radon tests numbers here cover the Capital Health
Where the typical Canadian town has 6.6% of homes over the guideline, Woodcroft’s area has fewer, 1.4%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Against the typical town in Alberta (7.5%), the area around Woodcroft 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.
Under 5% puts Woodcroft with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 63% have more high tests.
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.
Basements, soil and how a house is sealed decide its radon, so in Woodcroft only a test can say.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Woodcroft
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Woodcroft; 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 Woodcroft, 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)
How Woodcroft’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodcroft | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Inglewood 7,167 · 1.1 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| North Glenora 3,693 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Sherbrooke 7,131 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Westmount 4,961 · 2.0 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Athlone 3,242 · 2.2 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Glenora 6,197 · 2.7 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
Woodcroft’s low band tops its neighbours; Inglewood is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Woodcroft faces
Practical steps for Woodcroft’s hazards, most pressing first.
- 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
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Woodcroft’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Woodcroft takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- 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 Woodcroft.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Woodcroft’s figure is its subdivision’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Woodcroft
How is Woodcroft’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Woodcroft grades A+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is radon a problem in Woodcroft?
The area’s survey found 1.4% of 73 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Woodcroft.
How big is the earthquake risk in Woodcroft?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Woodcroft’s buildings lose $0.013 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is Woodcroft at risk of wildfire?
The burned-area record shows next to nothing around Woodcroft (0% within 25 km since 1986), so its band is low.
Does Woodcroft flood?
The inventory has 0 studies for Woodcroft, and an empty list isn’t a clean bill: the municipality holds any flood maps.
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).