Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainHazard risk in Special Area No. 4 is lower than in 91% of Canadian towns
Wildfire barely registers for Special Area No. 4, at 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.000% a year). Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.005 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. In Health Canada’s survey, 7.5% of homes tested in Special Area No. 4’s area exceeded 200 Bq/m³, close to the typical 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Special Area No. 4 a grade of A, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Special Area No. 4’s hazards
For Special Area No. 4, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Special Area No. 4 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. 4: A
The grade weighs Special Area No. 4’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
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.
Few fires near Special Area No. 4: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Special Area No. 4’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Next to the typical Canadian town (0.000% a year), Special Area No. 4’s 0.000% is in the low band.
With 0% forest fuel within 5 km and 0% within 25 km, the land around Special Area No. 4 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 479
To three decimals the burn rate around Special Area No. 4 is zero, as for 387 of the 479 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.
Most of the country’s 2,610 towns are low-band (92%, against 7.5% above); around Special Area No. 4, burning rounds to zero.
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 Special Area No. 4
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Special Area No. 4: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists no study whose area touches Special Area No. 4, which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Alberta, 46% of towns against 58% nationally, and Special Area No. 4 has none.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Nothing here counts toward Risk; the studies are pointers to the maps their owners keep for Special Area No. 4.
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 Special Area No. 4: $0.005 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Special Area No. 4’s $0.005 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.2 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Special Area No. 4’s $0.005 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.
Special Area No. 4 is among Canada’s quietest towns for earthquakes: 96% of the 2,611 expect more damage.
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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Special Area No. 4 is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
7.5% of homes tested around Special Area No. 4 are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
At 7.5% over the guideline, the area around Special Area No. 4 is about level with the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Behind radon tests sits data gathered across the David Thompson Regional Health Authority, with Special Area No. 4 one part of it.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon around Special Area No. 4 is ordinary for towns in Alberta: 7.5%, beside a median of 7.5%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Special Area No. 4 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.
Radon varies from house to house in Special Area No. 4, so the survey is a reason to test, not a result for yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Special Area No. 4
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Special Area No. 4; 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 Special Area No. 4, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what Special Area No. 4 faces
What to do about the hazards Special Area No. 4 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
- Wildfire counts one way. For Special Area No. 4, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- 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 Special Area No. 4 until then.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Special Area No. 4 without grading them.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Special Area No. 4’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
Questions about flooding and hazards in Special Area No. 4
Is radon a problem in Special Area No. 4?
In Health Canada’s survey, 7.5% of 107 homes tested in Special Area No. 4’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Does Special Area No. 4 flood?
Nothing is listed for Special Area No. 4 on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
Is Special Area No. 4 at risk of wildfire?
No meaningful wildfire history near Special Area No. 4: 0% of nearby land since 1986, band low.
How is Special Area No. 4’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
4 A, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
How big is the earthquake risk in Special Area No. 4?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Special Area No. 4’s buildings lose $0.005 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
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).