Photo: Ribbet32 · CC BY-SA 4.0Flood mapping exists for Red Deer County: 3 on record, latest by Government of Alberta
For Red Deer County, wildfire history is close to nil: 0% of nearby land since 1986, 0.000% a year. Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.015 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). In Health Canada’s survey, 7.5% of homes tested in Red Deer County’s area exceeded 200 Bq/m³, close to the typical 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Red Deer County a grade of A−, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Red Deer County’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Red Deer County: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Red Deer County faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Red Deer County: A−
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Red Deer County with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #248 of 474 in Alberta and #675 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.
Few fires near Red Deer County: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Red Deer County’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
At 0.000% of the land a year, Red Deer County’s burn rate is in the low band; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Nothing inside 5 km of Red Deer County’s homes has burned since 1986, and the nearest scar is 22 km off.
Forest fuel is scarce around Red Deer County: 2.2% of the land within 5 km, 3% 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
To three decimals the burn rate around Red Deer County is zero, as for 386 of the 478 towns in Alberta, while Wainwright reaches 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.
Red Deer County 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.
3 flood studies cover Red Deer County, the newest from Government of Alberta
Flood studies whose area touches Red Deer County, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
3 studies on the inventory touch Red Deer County, the newest Government of Alberta’s from 2025, and their areas can be large, so they say maps exist, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Deer County and Markerville Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2025 | final |
| Red Deer River Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2025 | final |
| Upper Red Deer River Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2024 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study sets Red Deer County apart in Alberta, where 46% of towns have one (Canada: 58%).
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 Red Deer County 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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Low seismic risk in Red Deer County: $0.015 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.
0.5 times the typical $0.030: Red Deer County’s $0.015 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
About level with the typical town in Alberta: Red Deer County’s $0.015 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.
72% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Red Deer County.
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 Red Deer County’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 Red Deer County: 7.5% over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Shared with the rest of the David Thompson Regional Health Authority: radon tests
Red Deer County’s area, at 7.5%, is close to the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Red Deer County, 7.5% of tests topped the guideline, about the same as the typical town in Alberta (7.5%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Red Deer County 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.
One home in Red Deer County can be high while next door is low; a three-month test settles it.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Red Deer County
Alerts for Red Deer County 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. |
Fire danger and active fires near Red Deer County are mapped daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System; evacuation orders come from the municipality or province.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Red Deer County
The same four hazards for the places next door.
Among its neighbours Red Deer County has the most fire on record (low); Penhold follows (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Red Deer County faces
What to do about the hazards Red Deer County 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
- 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 Red Deer County 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 Red Deer County floods.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Red Deer County’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Red Deer County’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Red Deer County
Does Red Deer County flood?
Red Deer County’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 Red Deer County at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Red Deer County since 1986 (last in 2016); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Is radon a problem in Red Deer County?
Around Red Deer County, 107 survey homes were tested and 7.5% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How is Red Deer County’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Red Deer County 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 Red Deer County?
Expected earthquake damage in Red Deer County comes to $0.015 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
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).