High Prairie’s hazards at a glance: a moderate wildfire record and 8.9% of area homes over the radon guideline
Some 8.9% of the land within 25 km of High Prairie has burned since 1986; at 0.23% a year that is moderate, not high. NRCan expects $0.016 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in High Prairie, near the typical $0.030. High Prairie grades B+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about High Prairie’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for High Prairie: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What High Prairie faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in High Prairie: B+
Earthquake risk and radon make High Prairie’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
Its place: #435 of 474 in Alberta and #1,364 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
A moderate wildfire record for High Prairie: 8.9% within 25 km burned, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where High Prairie’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The yearly burn rate around High Prairie is 0.23%, above 0.000% for the typical Canadian town but under the high band.
The 5 km ring around High Prairie’s homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 6.7 km out.
15% of the land within 25 km of High Prairie is forest fuel, yet only 0% within 5 km of its homes.
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
The land around High Prairie burns at 0.23% a year, the 12th highest rate of 478 towns in Alberta; Wainwright tops it 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.
High Prairie 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 High Prairie
Flood studies whose area touches High Prairie, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
There is no study for High Prairie on the national flood inventory, which is far from complete.
Towns with a flood study on file
Only 46% of towns in Alberta have a flood study, short of Canada’s 58%, and High Prairie is not among them.
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 High Prairie 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.”
Ordinary seismic risk in High Prairie: $0.016 per $1,000 of buildings a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
Earthquake losses in High Prairie, $0.016 per $1,000, are in line with the typical $0.030 (0.5 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Typical for its province: High Prairie at $0.016 beside a median in Alberta of $0.013, with Black Diamond on top 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.
71% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than High Prairie.
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 High Prairie’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).
Radon about average around High Prairie: 8.9% over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
8.9% of tested homes around High Prairie were over the guideline, much like the typical Canadian town at 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Ordinary for towns in Alberta at 8.9% over 200 Bq/m³ (7.5% is the median), the area around High Prairie had 1% over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Radon tops the guideline in a modest share of homes around High Prairie, a band holding 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% rank above.
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.
A survey sample isn’t a map: any home in High Prairie can be high, and a three-month test is the only way to know.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: the Peace Country Health
Weather and fire alerts for High Prairie
Alerts for High Prairie 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 High Prairie 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)
Get ready for what High Prairie faces
Practical steps for High Prairie’s hazards, most pressing first.
- 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
- 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 High Prairie until then.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around High Prairie’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for High Prairie without grading them.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; High Prairie’s figure is its subdivision’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in High Prairie
Does High Prairie flood?
The inventory has 0 studies for High Prairie, and an empty list isn’t a clean bill: the municipality holds any flood maps.
Is radon a problem in High Prairie?
The area’s survey found 8.9% of 203 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in High Prairie.
How big is the earthquake risk in High Prairie?
Expected earthquake damage in High Prairie comes to $0.016 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is High Prairie at risk of wildfire?
Some, but High Prairie’s moderate band (8.9% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2025) is short of the level that counts.
How is High Prairie’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
High Prairie’s Hazard risk grade is B+, 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).