Photo: Enzenberger · CC BY-SA 3.0Hazards in Wetaskiwin: wildfire low, radon over the guideline in 7.5% of tested homes
Since 1986 almost nothing has burned near Wetaskiwin: 0% of the land within 25 km, or 0.000% a year. For earthquakes Wetaskiwin is middling, $0.017 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. Wetaskiwin grades A− for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Wetaskiwin’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Wetaskiwin: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Wetaskiwin faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Wetaskiwin grades A− for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Wetaskiwin with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #253 of 474 in Alberta and #696 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 Wetaskiwin has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Wetaskiwin’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low by Canadian standards: 0.000% of the land a year around Wetaskiwin, 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Only 0.3% of the land within 25 km of Wetaskiwin is forest fuel, and 0.3% close in.
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
Of the 478 towns in Alberta, 386 have a burn rate that rounds to zero, Wetaskiwin among them; Wainwright leads at 1.43% a year.
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.
92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are in the low band and 7.5% above it; Wetaskiwin is among the many where the yearly burn rate rounds to zero.
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 Wetaskiwin
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Wetaskiwin: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Nationally, Wetaskiwin has no listed flood study; the municipality is the place to ask.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Alberta, 46% of towns against 58% nationally, and Wetaskiwin has none.
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 Wetaskiwin 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.”
Expected shaking damage in Wetaskiwin: $0.017 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
With $0.017 of shaking damage a year per $1,000, Wetaskiwin is about even with the typical $0.030 (0.6 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.017, Wetaskiwin is above the typical town in Alberta ($0.013); Black Diamond has the most 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.
Toward the quiet end of Canada’s range: 70% of its 2,611 towns sit above Wetaskiwin.
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 Wetaskiwin’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).
7.5% of homes tested around Wetaskiwin are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
7.5% of tested homes around Wetaskiwin were over the guideline, much like the typical Canadian town at 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Wetaskiwin’s area, at 7.5%, is close to the median in Alberta (7.5%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Wetaskiwin is in the 5–10% band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% have more.
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 share describes the area, not a house: in Wetaskiwin as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the David Thompson Regional Health Authority
Weather and fire alerts for Wetaskiwin
Alerts for Wetaskiwin 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 Wetaskiwin 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 Wetaskiwin
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wetaskiwin | Low | $0.017 | 7.5% | None listed |
| Ermineskin 138 2,359 · 14 km | Low | $0.015 | 7.5% | None listed |
| Millet 1,967 · 15 km | Low | $0.014 | 7.5% | Yes |
| Louis Bull 138B 1,394 · 17 km | Low | $0.012 | 7.5% | None listed |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Wetaskiwin (low); Ermineskin 138 comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Wetaskiwin faces
What to do about the hazards Wetaskiwin 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. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Wetaskiwin.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Wetaskiwin’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Wetaskiwin is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- 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 Wetaskiwin’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Wetaskiwin
Does Wetaskiwin flood?
Nothing is listed for Wetaskiwin on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
How big is the earthquake risk in Wetaskiwin?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Wetaskiwin $0.017 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
How is Wetaskiwin’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Wetaskiwin grades A− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is Wetaskiwin at risk of wildfire?
The burned-area record shows next to nothing around Wetaskiwin (0% within 25 km since 1986), so its band is low.
Is radon a problem in Wetaskiwin?
In Health Canada’s survey, 7.5% of 107 homes tested in Wetaskiwin’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
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).