Photo: Amqui · CC BY-SA 4.0Hazard risk in Wainwright No. 61 is higher than in 97% of Canadian towns
Wildfire is a real hazard for Wainwright No. 61: 5.9% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, 0.46% a year, in the high band. Seismic risk runs low: $0.004 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. In Health Canada’s survey, 5.2% of homes tested in Wainwright No. 61’s area exceeded 200 Bq/m³, close to the typical 6.6%. Wainwright No. 61 grades D− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Wainwright No. 61’s hazards
For Wainwright No. 61, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Wainwright No. 61 faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Wainwright No. 61 grades D− for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Wainwright No. 61, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #468 of 474 in Alberta and #2,566 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
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.
Fire country: 5.9% of the land within 25 km of Wainwright No. 61 has burned since 1986, 5.4% within 5 km
Past fire around Wainwright No. 61’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
High: the land around Wainwright No. 61 burns at 0.46% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Land that isn’t forest covers nearly all the ground around Wainwright No. 61: 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 478
In the top quarter in Alberta: Wainwright No. 61 ranks 7th of 478 at 0.46% a year, with Wainwright first 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.
Wainwright No. 61 is one of the few of Canada’s 2,610 towns in the high band (1.9%); 0.2% rank very high.
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.
No flood study is listed for Wainwright No. 61
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Wainwright No. 61: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
No flood study on the national inventory covers Wainwright No. 61; ask the municipality, which is the authority for its flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Wainwright No. 61 has no flood study on file; only 46% of towns in Alberta do, against 58% across Canada.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Wainwright No. 61 floods.
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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Wainwright No. 61 just $0.004 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Wainwright No. 61’s $0.004 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.1 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Wainwright No. 61’s $0.004 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.
Wainwright No. 61 is among Canada’s quietest towns for earthquakes: 98% 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).
What a quake does after the shaking, fire, landslides, tsunami, falls outside NRCan’s figure for Wainwright No. 61.
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 Wainwright No. 61: 5.2% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Around Wainwright No. 61, 5.2% of tested homes topped the guideline, near the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Below the typical town in Alberta (7.5%) at 5.2%, the area around Wainwright No. 61 still had 1% of tests over 600 Bq/m³.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
A middling share of high tests puts Wainwright No. 61 with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, below 26% of them.
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 Wainwright No. 61 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). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the East Central Health
Where to get warnings in Wainwright No. 61
Alerts for Wainwright No. 61 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. |
Evacuation orders for Wainwright No. 61 come from the municipality or the province, while CWFIS maps fire danger every day.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Wainwright No. 61
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wainwright No. 61 | High | $0.004 | 5.2% | None listed |
| Wainwright 6,996 · 4.2 km | Very high | $0.005 | 5.2% | None listed |
The heaviest fire record nearby is Wainwright’s, very high to Wainwright No. 61’s high.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Wainwright No. 61 faces
What to do about the hazards Wainwright No. 61 faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- 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.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- How close is the forest edge?
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Wainwright No. 61’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Wainwright No. 61.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Wainwright No. 61 is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Wainwright No. 61, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Wainwright No. 61
Does Wainwright No. 61 flood?
Nothing is listed for Wainwright No. 61 on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
How is Wainwright No. 61’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Wainwright No. 61’s Hazard risk grade is D−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is radon a problem in Wainwright No. 61?
In Health Canada’s survey, 5.2% of 97 homes tested in Wainwright No. 61’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How big is the earthquake risk in Wainwright No. 61?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Wainwright No. 61 $0.004 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is Wainwright No. 61 at risk of wildfire?
Yes, by Canadian standards: Wainwright No. 61’s band is high, with 5.9% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2025), so wildfire counts against its Risk 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).