Photo: Cszmurlo · CC BY 2.5Wildfire low, radon 8.9%: how Magrath stands on hazards
Fire has left almost no mark near Magrath: 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. For earthquakes Magrath is middling, $0.041 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Magrath a grade of C+, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Magrath’s hazards
For Magrath, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Magrath faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Magrath grades C+ for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Magrath with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #462 of 474 in Alberta and #1,834 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Little of the land around Magrath has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Magrath’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low by Canadian standards: 0.000% of the land a year around Magrath, 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
With 0% forest fuel within 5 km and 0% within 25 km, the land around Magrath 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
Wainwright has the highest burn rate in Alberta, 1.43% a year; around Magrath, 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.
Magrath shares the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, its burn rate rounding to nothing; 7.5% burn faster.
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 Magrath
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Magrath: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The inventory has nothing for Magrath, but a local or conservation-authority map may still exist.
Towns with a flood study on file
Only 46% of towns in Alberta have a flood study, short of Canada’s 58%, and Magrath 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 Magrath 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.”
Expected shaking damage in Magrath: $0.041 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.041 per $1,000, Magrath’s earthquake risk is about the typical Canadian town’s ($0.030; 1.4 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.041, Magrath is above the typical town in Alberta ($0.013); Black Diamond has the most 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.
Magrath’s earthquake risk lands near the centre of Canada’s range; 43% 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).
For Magrath the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
8.9% of homes tested around Magrath are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
8.9% of tested homes around Magrath were over the guideline, much like the typical Canadian town at 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Magrath’s area, at 8.9%, is close to the median in Alberta (7.5%); 0.9% of its tests passed 600 Bq/m³.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Magrath is in the 5–10% band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% 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.
Health Canada advises testing every home, Magrath’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Not measured by town: radon tests (the Chinook Regional Health Authority)
Where to get warnings in Magrath
Alerts for Magrath 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 Magrath 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)
Hazards in the places around Magrath
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magrath | Low | $0.041 | 8.9% | None listed |
| Raymond 4,594 · 16 km | Low | $0.028 | 8.9% | None listed |
Raymond (low) has the heaviest fire record of Magrath’s neighbours, and Magrath (low) matches or beats it.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Magrath faces
What to do about the hazards Magrath 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
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Magrath without grading them.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Magrath, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Magrath’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’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 Magrath until then.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Magrath
Is radon a problem in Magrath?
In Health Canada’s survey, 8.9% of 112 homes tested in Magrath’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How big is the earthquake risk in Magrath?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Magrath’s buildings lose $0.041 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
How is Magrath’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Magrath grades C+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Does Magrath flood?
Nothing is listed for Magrath on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
Is Magrath at risk of wildfire?
The burned-area record shows next to nothing around Magrath (0% within 25 km since 1986), so its band is low.
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).