Photo: Wilson Hui from Calgary, Canada · CC BY 2.0Hazards in Westlock County: wildfire low, radon over the guideline in 9.6% of tested homes
Wildfire is rare near Westlock County: 1% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.03% a year. Seismic risk runs low: $0.009 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Westlock County grades A− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Westlock County’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Westlock County: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Westlock County faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Westlock County grades A− for hazard risk
For Westlock County, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
Its place: #258 of 474 in Alberta and #873 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 Westlock County has burned: 0.1% within 5 km, 1% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Westlock County’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
A burn rate of 0.03% a year keeps Westlock County in the low band (the typical Canadian town: 0.000%).
Forest fuel rises from 2.7% within 5 km of Westlock County to 11% within 25 km: the fuel lies away from homes.
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; Westlock County, at 0.03%, ranks 46th 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.
Some fire is mapped around Westlock County, but not enough to leave the low band, where 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are; 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.
No flood study is listed for Westlock County
Flood studies whose area touches Westlock County, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
An empty entry for Westlock County on the inventory isn’t proof of safety; ask locally for flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
No study touches Westlock County; 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 is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Westlock County’s homes stand in a flood zone.
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 Westlock County: $0.009 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.
At $0.009 per $1,000, Westlock County carries 0.3 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030): low.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.009, Westlock County is below the typical town 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.
Earthquakes cost less around Westlock County than in 86% of Canada’s 2,611 towns.
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 Westlock County’s 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 Westlock County: 9.6% of area homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Measured across the Aspen Regional Health Authority: radon tests
Around Westlock County, 9.6% of tested homes topped the guideline, near the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Westlock County’s area, at 9.6%, is above the median in Alberta (7.5%), and 0.5% 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.
Between 5% and 10% of tests over the guideline: Westlock 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.
One home in Westlock County 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 Westlock County
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Westlock 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. |
In fire season, check CWFIS for danger and active fires around Westlock County, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Westlock County
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westlock County | Low | $0.009 | 9.6% | None listed |
| Westlock 5,363 · 9.5 km | Low | $0.008 | 9.6% | None listed |
Among its neighbours Westlock County has the most fire on record (low); Westlock follows (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Westlock County faces
Practical steps for Westlock 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?
- 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. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Westlock County.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Westlock County’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Westlock County takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Westlock County’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Westlock County
Does Westlock County flood?
No study on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory covers Westlock County (0), which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped, so ask the municipality.
How big is the earthquake risk in Westlock County?
Expected earthquake damage in Westlock County comes to $0.009 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is radon a problem in Westlock County?
9.6% of the 219 homes Health Canada tested around Westlock County topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
How is Westlock County’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Westlock County A−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is Westlock County at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Westlock County’s band is low, with 1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2025), so wildfire doesn’t change its 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).