Photo: Mascdman · CC BY-SA 2.5Hazard risk in Special Area No. 2 is lower than in 86% of Canadian towns
Wildfire barely registers for Special Area No. 2, at 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.000% a year). Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.009 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). About as many homes carry radon around Special Area No. 2 as elsewhere, 7.5% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Special Area No. 2 a grade of A, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Special Area No. 2’s hazards
For Special Area No. 2, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Special Area No. 2 faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Special Area No. 2: A
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Special Area No. 2 with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Little of the land around Special Area No. 2 has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Special Area No. 2’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Special Area No. 2 is 0.000%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Land that isn’t forest covers nearly all the ground around Special Area No. 2: forest fuel is 0% within 5 km and 0% 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 479
Near-zero burning puts Special Area No. 2 with 387 of the 479 towns in Alberta, far below Wainwright 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.
Special Area No. 2 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.
Special Area No. 2 is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Government of Alberta
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Special Area No. 2: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
One study on the inventory touches Special Area No. 2, Government of Alberta’s from 2024, and its area can be large, so it says a map exists, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drumheller Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2024 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Alberta, 46% of towns against 58% nationally, but Special Area No. 2 has one.
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 Special Area No. 2’s 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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Special Area No. 2 just $0.009 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Special Area No. 2’s $0.009 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.3 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Special Area No. 2’s $0.009 sits under the median in Alberta, $0.013, and well under Black Diamond’s $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.
86% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Special Area No. 2.
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 Special Area No. 2 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).
Some radon around Special Area No. 2: 7.5% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Around Special Area No. 2, 7.5% of tested homes topped the guideline, near the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Nobody publishes radon tests for Special Area No. 2 alone, so this card uses the figure for the David Thompson Regional Health Authority.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The typical town in Alberta has 7.5% over 200 Bq/m³; Special Area No. 2’s area has 7.5%, much the same.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Special Area No. 2 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.
A low area share in Special Area No. 2 doesn’t clear a house, nor does a high one condemn it: test.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Special Area No. 2
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Special Area No. 2; 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 Special Area No. 2, 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)
Get ready for what Special Area No. 2 faces
What to do about the hazards Special Area No. 2 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. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Special Area No. 2 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 Special Area No. 2.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Special Area No. 2’s included.
- Wildfire counts one way. Burned land within 25 km of where people live, averaged over 1986–2025 and checked for fuel near homes, is the measure; it looks back, not ahead, and only ever counts against Special Area No. 2.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Special Area No. 2
How big is the earthquake risk in Special Area No. 2?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Special Area No. 2’s buildings lose $0.009 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Does Special Area No. 2 flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Special Area No. 2; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
Is radon a problem in Special Area No. 2?
In Health Canada’s survey, 7.5% of 107 homes tested in Special Area No. 2’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Is Special Area No. 2 at risk of wildfire?
No meaningful wildfire history near Special Area No. 2: 0% of nearby land since 1986, band low.
How is Special Area No. 2’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Special Area No. 2 grades A for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
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).