Photo: dfaulder · CC BY 2.0Hazard risk in Two Hills is lower than in 98% of Canadian towns
The national fire record shows next to nothing around Two Hills, 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.000% a year). Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.005 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Two Hills’ survey area, 5.2% over the radon guideline, is close to the typical town’s 6.6%. Two Hills grades A+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Two Hills’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Two Hills: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Two Hills faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Two Hills: A+
Two inputs always count for Two Hills, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
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.
Wildfire is rare near Two Hills: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Two Hills’ residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
In a typical year 0.000% of the land near Two Hills burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
Around Two Hills the forest is thin or far off: 0% of the land within 5 km and 0.5% within 25 km is forest fuel.
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
Wainwright has the highest burn rate in Alberta, 1.43% a year; around Two Hills, as around 387 of the 479 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.
Measured against 2,610 towns, Two Hills is in the largest group, low (92%), and at its floor, while 7.5% rank higher.
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 Two Hills
Flood studies whose area touches Two Hills, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
NRCan’s inventory is silent on Two Hills, so any flood map would be the municipality’s own.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Alberta, 46% of towns against 58% nationally, and Two Hills has none.
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 Two Hills.
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 Two Hills: $0.005 a year per $1,000
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
Two Hills’ $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
Two Hills’ $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.
At the bottom of Canada’s range, Two Hills has 96% of the 2,611 towns above it.
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 loss is to Two Hills’ buildings alone, from ground shaking; infrastructure and secondary hazards are left out.
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 Two Hills: 5.2% of area homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
The survey area of Two Hills reads 5.2%, a shade from the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Behind radon tests sits data gathered across the East Central Health, with Two Hills one part of it.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Two Hills’ area, at 5.2%, is below the median in Alberta (7.5%), though 1% 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.
26% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Two Hills’ 5–10% band, which holds 37%.
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.
The survey sampled homes around Two Hills; it can’t tell you your basement’s level.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Two Hills
Alerts for Two Hills 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 Two Hills 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)
How Two Hills’ neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Two Hills | Low | $0.005 | 5.2% | None listed |
| Two Hills County No. 21 3,626 · 9.5 km | Low | $0.005 | 5.2% | None listed |
Two Hills County No. 21 (low) has the heaviest fire record of Two Hills’ neighbours, and Two Hills (low) matches or beats it.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Two Hills faces
What to do about the hazards Two Hills 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 Two Hills without grading them.
- 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 Two Hills until then.
- 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 Two Hills’.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Two Hills’ homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Two Hills
Does Two Hills flood?
Nothing is listed for Two Hills on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
Is Two Hills at risk of wildfire?
The burned-area record shows next to nothing around Two Hills (0% within 25 km since 1986), so its band is low.
How big is the earthquake risk in Two Hills?
Expected earthquake damage in Two Hills comes to $0.005 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is radon a problem in Two Hills?
In Health Canada’s survey, 5.2% of 97 homes tested in Two Hills’ area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How is Two Hills’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Two Hills’ Hazard risk grade is A+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
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).