On hazards, Cross Lake 19 comes out behind almost every Canadian town
Wildfire is Cross Lake 19’s dominant hazard: 48% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, 1.20% a year. Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.003 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Cross Lake 19’s survey area, 7.9% over the radon guideline, is close to the typical town’s 6.6%. Cross Lake 19 grades D− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Cross Lake 19’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Cross Lake 19: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Cross Lake 19 faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Cross Lake 19: D−
The grade weighs Cross Lake 19’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
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.
A very high wildfire band for Cross Lake 19: 17% within 5 km, 48% within 25 km
Past fire around Cross Lake 19’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Very high: the land around Cross Lake 19 burns at 1.20% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
The ring nearest Cross Lake 19 is the most wooded: 70% forest fuel within 5 km against 49% 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 Manitoba · highest of 190
In the top quarter in Manitoba: Cross Lake 19 ranks 2nd of 190 at 1.20% a year, with Flin Flon (Part) first at 1.68%.
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.
Very high is the rarest band, 0.2% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, and Cross Lake 19 is in 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.
No flood study is listed for Cross Lake 19
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Cross Lake 19: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
NRCan’s inventory is silent on Cross Lake 19, so any flood map would be the municipality’s own.
Towns with a flood study on file
No study touches Cross Lake 19; in Manitoba, 18% 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 mapping is shown for Cross Lake 19 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 Cross Lake 19: $0.003 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
0.1 times the typical $0.030: Cross Lake 19’s $0.003 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Below the middle in Manitoba: Cross Lake 19’s $0.003 against a median of $0.006; Virden has $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.
Nearly every one of Canada’s 2,611 towns (99%) expects more shaking damage than Cross Lake 19.
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 Cross Lake 19’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).
7.9% of homes tested around Cross Lake 19 are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Source area for radon tests: the Burntwood/Churchill health region
Near the middle for radon: Cross Lake 19’s area 7.9%, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Cross Lake 19’s area, at 7.9%, is below the median in Manitoba (12%), though 0.7% 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.
26% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Cross Lake 19’s 5–10% band, which holds 37%.
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 Cross Lake 19 as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Cross Lake 19
Alerts for Cross Lake 19 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 Cross Lake 19 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)
How Cross Lake 19’s neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cross Lake 19 | Very high | $0.003 | 7.9% | None listed |
| Cross Lake 19A 2,396 · 5.4 km | Very high | $0.005 | 7.9% | None listed |
Cross Lake 19A burns a little more than Cross Lake 19, in the same very high band (very high here).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Cross Lake 19 faces
What to do about the hazards Cross Lake 19 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. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Cross Lake 19.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Cross Lake 19’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Cross Lake 19’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Cross Lake 19 takes its 2007 health region’s share.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Cross Lake 19
Is Cross Lake 19 at risk of wildfire?
More than most Canadian towns; Cross Lake 19’s very high band rests on 48% of nearby land burned since 1986 (most recently 2025).
How is Cross Lake 19’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Cross Lake 19 grades D− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is radon a problem in Cross Lake 19?
Around Cross Lake 19, 152 survey homes were tested and 7.9% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Does Cross Lake 19 flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Cross Lake 19’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
How big is the earthquake risk in Cross Lake 19?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Cross Lake 19 $0.003 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
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).