Photo: R. Sieben · CC BY 3.0A flood study covers Wheatland County: 2 on the national inventory, the newest from Government of Alberta
Burn scars are few around Wheatland County, with 0.1% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.002% a year). Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.015 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Radon is about average around Wheatland County: 8.1% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Wheatland County a grade of A−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Wheatland County’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Wheatland County: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Wheatland County faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Wheatland County grades A− for hazard risk
The grade weighs Wheatland County’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
Its place: #252 of 474 in Alberta and #695 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.
Wildfire is rare near Wheatland County: 0.1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Wheatland County’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
In a typical year 0.002% of the land near Wheatland County burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
Wheatland County’s homes have had no fire within 5 km since 1986; the closest was 7.2 km away.
With 0% forest fuel within 5 km and 0% within 25 km, the land around Wheatland 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; Wheatland County, at 0.002%, ranks 77th 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.
Beside 2,610 Canadian towns, Wheatland County reads low, with 92% of them; only 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.
2 flood studies cover Wheatland County, the newest from Government of Alberta
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Wheatland County: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Government of Alberta and others have studied flooding in areas that include Wheatland County: 2 studies, the latest from 2024.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drumheller Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2024 | final |
| Siksika Bow River Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2024 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Alberta reaches 46% of towns, Wheatland County among them, below the 58% across Canada.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Wheatland County’s homes are at risk.
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.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Wheatland County just $0.015 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Wheatland County’s $0.015 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.5 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
About level with the typical town in Alberta: Wheatland County’s $0.015 against $0.013; Black Diamond reaches $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.
72% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Wheatland 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 Wheatland 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).
Radon about average around Wheatland County: 8.1% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Shared with the rest of the Calgary Health Region: radon tests
The survey area of Wheatland County reads 8.1%, a shade from the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Wheatland 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.
Wheatland County 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.
One home in Wheatland 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 Wheatland County
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Wheatland 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for Wheatland County come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Wheatland County
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wheatland County | Low | $0.015 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Strathmore 16,416 · 12 km | Low | $0.020 | 8.1% | None listed |
Nowhere around Wheatland County burns more: Strathmore, the closest rival, is low to its low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Wheatland County faces
What to do about the hazards Wheatland County 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?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Wheatland County’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Wheatland County’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Wheatland County is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- 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 Wheatland County.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Wheatland County
How big is the earthquake risk in Wheatland County?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Wheatland County $0.015 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
How is Wheatland County’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Wheatland County grades A− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Does Wheatland County flood?
There is flood mapping for Wheatland County on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
Is radon a problem in Wheatland County?
In Health Canada’s survey, 8.1% of 86 homes tested in Wheatland County’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Is Wheatland County at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0.1% of the land within 25 km of Wheatland County has burned since 1986, the last in 2025, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
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).