Photo: Greg N · CC BY-SA 3.0Around Coldwell, 25% of tested homes have radon above the guideline
Some 5.9% of the land within 25 km of Coldwell has burned since 1986; at 0.15% a year that is moderate, not high. Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.005 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Hazard risk gives Coldwell a grade of B; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Coldwell’s hazards
For Coldwell, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Coldwell faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Coldwell: B
Two inputs always count for Coldwell, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Some fire around Coldwell: 5.9% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 13% within 5 km
Past fire around Coldwell’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
At 0.15% of the land a year, Coldwell’s burn rate is moderate; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Around Coldwell the forest is thin or far off: 0% of the land within 5 km and 0% within 25 km is forest fuel.
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 Manitoba · highest of 190
Flin Flon (Part) burns fastest in Manitoba at 1.68% a year; Coldwell, at 0.15%, ranks 11th of 190.
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.
Only 5.4% of Canada’s 2,610 towns share the moderate band with Coldwell, and 2.1% sit 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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Coldwell
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Coldwell: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The inventory has nothing for Coldwell, but a local or conservation-authority map may still exist.
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Manitoba reaches 18% of towns, below the 58% across Canada, and not Coldwell.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping is shown for Coldwell to be opened and checked, never turned into a grade.
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 Coldwell: $0.005 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Coldwell’s $0.005 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.2 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk around Coldwell ($0.005) matches the middle in Manitoba ($0.006), far from Virden’s $0.007.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Coldwell is among Canada’s quietest towns for earthquakes: 96% 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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Coldwell is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon runs high around Coldwell: 25% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Coldwell’s area, at 25%, is above the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town, so testing is worth more here than most places. Coldwell doesn’t get its own radon tests figures; the ones here come from the Interlake health region.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Coldwell’s area, at 25%, is above the median in Manitoba (12%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
One home in five or more tests over the guideline around Coldwell; 3.1% of Canada’s 2,611 towns are in that band and 1.5% 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.
Whatever Coldwell’s area share, the reading that matters is your own home’s, over a winter.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Coldwell
Alerts for Coldwell 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. |
Fire danger and active fires near Coldwell are mapped daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System; evacuation orders come from the municipality or province.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what Coldwell faces
What to do about the hazards Coldwell 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
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Coldwell without grading them.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Coldwell, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Radon is a survey. Radon figures pool the survey’s home tests by area: postal areas once their boundaries arrive, the 2007 health region around Coldwell until then.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Coldwell’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
Questions about flooding and hazards in Coldwell
How big is the earthquake risk in Coldwell?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Coldwell $0.005 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Does Coldwell flood?
Nothing is listed for Coldwell on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
Is radon a problem in Coldwell?
In Health Canada’s survey, 25% of 121 homes tested in Coldwell’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Is Coldwell at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 5.9% of the land within 25 km of Coldwell has burned since 1986, the last in 2018, a moderate band that leaves Risk alone.
How is Coldwell’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Coldwell’s Hazard risk grade is B, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
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).