Photo: Bernard Spragg. NZ from Christchurch, New Zealand · CC0A flood study covers Vulcan County: 1 on the national inventory, the newest from Government of Alberta
Fire seldom reaches Vulcan County: since 1986, 0.1% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.003% a year). Earthquake risk in Vulcan County is ordinary: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.019 a year per $1,000 of value, close to the typical town’s $0.030. Radon is about average around Vulcan County: 8.1% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Vulcan County a grade of B+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Vulcan County’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Vulcan County: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Vulcan County faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Vulcan County grades B+ for hazard risk
Seismic risk and radon set Vulcan County’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of it.
Its place: #264 of 474 in Alberta and #915 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Little of the land around Vulcan County has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0.1% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Vulcan County’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
At 0.003% of the land a year, Vulcan County’s burn rate is in the low band; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
The 5 km ring around Vulcan County’s homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 17 km out.
With 0% forest fuel within 5 km and 0% within 25 km, the land around Vulcan County 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 478
Wainwright burns fastest in Alberta at 1.43% a year; Vulcan County, at 0.003%, ranks 71st of 478.
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.
Low, like 92% of the country’s 2,610 towns: the land around Vulcan County burns, but slower than in the 7.5% above it.
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.
Vulcan County is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Government of Alberta
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Vulcan County: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The flood study touching Vulcan County is Government of Alberta’s, dated 2024; its own map shows the zones street by street.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Siksika Bow River Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2024 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Vulcan County is one of the 46% of towns in Alberta with a flood study on file, fewer than Canada’s 58%.
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 Vulcan County.
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.
Expected shaking damage in Vulcan County: $0.019 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Earthquake losses in Vulcan County, $0.019 per $1,000, are in line with the typical $0.030 (0.6 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Alberta peaks in Black Diamond ($0.048); Vulcan County, at $0.019, sits above the median of $0.013.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
66% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Vulcan 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 Vulcan 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).
8.1% of homes tested around Vulcan County are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
The survey area of Vulcan County reads 8.1%, a shade from the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Vulcan County doesn’t get its own radon tests figures; the ones here come from the Calgary Health Region.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Vulcan County, 8.1% 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: Vulcan County, 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.
The survey sampled homes around Vulcan County; 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 Vulcan County
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Vulcan County; 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 Vulcan County, 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)
Hazards in the places around Vulcan County
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vulcan County | Low | $0.019 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Vulcan 1,922 · 6.2 km | Low | $0.025 | 8.1% | None listed |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Vulcan County (low); Vulcan comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Vulcan County faces
Practical steps for Vulcan County’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?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Vulcan County’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. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Vulcan County.
- 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 Vulcan County’s.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Vulcan County takes its 2007 health region’s share.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Vulcan County
How big is the earthquake risk in Vulcan County?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Vulcan County’s buildings lose $0.019 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in Vulcan County?
8.1% of the 86 homes Health Canada tested around Vulcan County topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
Is Vulcan County at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Vulcan County’s band is low, with 0.1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2025), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
Does Vulcan County flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Vulcan County; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
How is Vulcan County’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Vulcan County grades B+ 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).