Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Sylvan Lake’s hazards at a glance: a low wildfire record and 7.5% of area homes over the radon guideline
The national fire record shows next to nothing around Sylvan Lake, 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.000% a year). Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.013 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Sylvan Lake grades A− for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Sylvan Lake’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Sylvan Lake: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Sylvan Lake faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Sylvan Lake: A−
Seismic risk and radon set Sylvan Lake’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of it.
Its place: #237 of 474 in Alberta and #647 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 Sylvan Lake: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Sylvan Lake’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Next to the typical Canadian town (0.000% a year), Sylvan Lake’s 0.000% is in the low band.
Forest fuel is scarce around Sylvan Lake: 0.3% of the land within 5 km, 0.9% 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 Sylvan Lake 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.
Only 7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are above the low band, which holds 92%; Sylvan Lake, at a rounded zero, is far from them.
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 Sylvan Lake
Flood studies whose area touches Sylvan Lake, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
The inventory has nothing for Sylvan Lake, but a local or conservation-authority map may still exist.
Towns with a flood study on file
No study touches Sylvan Lake; in Alberta, 46% of towns have one, below Canada’s 58%.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for Sylvan Lake.
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.”
Low seismic risk in Sylvan Lake: $0.013 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.
Shaking costs the typical town $0.030 a year; in Sylvan Lake it is only $0.013, 0.4 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Sylvan Lake’s $0.013 is close to the median in Alberta, $0.013; Black Diamond is highest 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.
Most of Canada’s 2,611 towns (75%) face more earthquake damage than Sylvan Lake.
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 Sylvan Lake’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 Sylvan Lake: 7.5% over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the David Thompson Regional Health Authority
7.5% of tested homes around Sylvan Lake were over the guideline, much like the typical Canadian town at 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Sylvan Lake, 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.
Between 5% and 10% of tests over the guideline: Sylvan Lake, and 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% are higher.
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 Sylvan Lake 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 Sylvan Lake
Alerts for Sylvan Lake 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 Sylvan Lake 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 Sylvan Lake
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sylvan Lake | Low | $0.013 | 7.5% | None listed |
| Bentley 1,153 · 18 km | Low | $0.009 | 7.5% | None listed |
Among its neighbours Sylvan Lake has the most fire on record (low); Bentley follows (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Sylvan Lake faces
Practical steps for Sylvan Lake’s hazards, most pressing first.
- 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
- 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 Sylvan Lake until then.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Sylvan Lake’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Sylvan Lake without grading them.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as Sylvan Lake’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Sylvan Lake
How big is the earthquake risk in Sylvan Lake?
About $0.013 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Sylvan Lake.
Is radon a problem in Sylvan Lake?
The area’s survey found 7.5% of 107 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Sylvan Lake.
Does Sylvan Lake flood?
The inventory has 0 studies for Sylvan Lake, and an empty list isn’t a clean bill: the municipality holds any flood maps.
How is Sylvan Lake’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Sylvan Lake A−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is Sylvan Lake at risk of wildfire?
Hardly at all on record: 0% of the land within 25 km of Sylvan Lake since 1986, a low band, though small grass fires aren’t mapped.
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).