Few places are as safe from hazards as Gibbons: it beats almost every Canadian town
Fire reaches the land around Gibbons now and then: 3.1% within 25 km since 1986 (0.08% a year), below the high band. Seismic risk runs low: $0.008 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 1.4% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Gibbons a grade of A+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Gibbons’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Gibbons: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Gibbons faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Gibbons: A+
The grade weighs Gibbons’ seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
Its place: #2 of 474 in Alberta and #7 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. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Some fire around Gibbons: 3.1% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Gibbons’ homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Gibbons is 0.08%, above 0.000% for the typical Canadian town but under the high band.
No fire has burned within 5 km of Gibbons’ homes since 1986; the nearest burn is 12 km away.
Forest fuel is scarce around Gibbons: 0.7% of the land within 5 km, 1.6% 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
Gibbons ranks 29th of the 478 towns in Alberta for burn rate, at 0.08% a year; Wainwright leads with 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.
Gibbons is in the moderate band, which holds 5.4% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 2.1% 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 Gibbons
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Gibbons: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
An empty entry for Gibbons on the inventory isn’t proof of safety; ask locally for flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
No study touches Gibbons; 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 Gibbons’ 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.”
Little shaking expected in Gibbons: $0.008 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
0.3 times the typical $0.030: Gibbons’ $0.008 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Below the middle in Alberta: Gibbons’ $0.008 against a median of $0.013; 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.
Gibbons is in the lower part of Canada’s range for earthquake risk; 87% 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 Gibbons’ 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 Gibbons: 1.4% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
A lower share than most: 1.4% of tested homes around Gibbons, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Against the typical town in Alberta (7.5%), the area around Gibbons 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.
Radon rarely tops the guideline around Gibbons, 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.
The survey sampled homes around Gibbons; it can’t tell you your basement’s level.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: one figure for all of the Capital Health
Weather and fire alerts for Gibbons
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Gibbons; 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. |
In fire season, check CWFIS for danger and active fires around Gibbons, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Gibbons
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gibbons | Moderate | $0.008 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Bon Accord 1,457 · 5.4 km | Moderate | $0.011 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Sturgeon County 21,144 · 16 km | Low | $0.010 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Fort Saskatchewan 30,575 · 16 km | Moderate | $0.010 | 1.4% | Yes |
Fort Saskatchewan burns a little more than Gibbons, in the same moderate band (moderate here).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Gibbons faces
What to do about the hazards Gibbons faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- 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.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- How close is the forest edge?
- 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 Gibbons’ homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Gibbons’ figure is its subdivision’s.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Gibbons without grading them.
- 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 Gibbons until then.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Gibbons
Is Gibbons at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 3.1% of the land around Gibbons since 1986 (last in 2025); at moderate, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How is Gibbons’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Gibbons A+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
How big is the earthquake risk in Gibbons?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Gibbons’ buildings lose $0.008 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in Gibbons?
Around Gibbons, 73 survey homes were tested and 1.4% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Does Gibbons flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Gibbons’ flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
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).