Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainHazard risk in Division No. 1, Unorganized is higher than in 96% of Canadian towns
With 0.36% of the land around it burning each year, Division No. 1, Unorganized sits in the high wildfire band (13% within 25 km since 1986). Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.004 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. Radon is higher than usual: 21% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Division No. 1, Unorganized grades D− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Division No. 1, Unorganized’s hazards
For Division No. 1, Unorganized, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Division No. 1, Unorganized faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Division No. 1, Unorganized: D−
The grade weighs Division No. 1, Unorganized’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. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Fire country: 13% of the land within 25 km of Division No. 1, Unorganized has burned since 1986, 8.3% within 5 km
Past fire around Division No. 1, Unorganized’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
At 0.36% of the land a year, Division No. 1, Unorganized’s burn rate is high, many times the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
The ring nearest Division No. 1, Unorganized is the most wooded: 64% forest fuel within 5 km against 58% 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
Division No. 1, Unorganized ranks 4th of the 190 towns in Manitoba for burn rate, at 0.36% a year; Flin Flon (Part) leads with 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.
Division No. 1, Unorganized is one of the few of Canada’s 2,610 towns in the high band (1.9%); 0.2% rank very high.
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 Division No. 1, Unorganized
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Division No. 1, Unorganized: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Nationally, Division No. 1, Unorganized has no listed flood study; the municipality is the place to ask.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Manitoba, 18% of towns against 58% nationally, and Division No. 1, Unorganized has none.
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 Division No. 1, Unorganized 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 Division No. 1, Unorganized: $0.004 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Division No. 1, Unorganized’s $0.004 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.1 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.004, Division No. 1, Unorganized is below the typical town in Manitoba ($0.006); Virden is highest at $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.
At the bottom of Canada’s range, Division No. 1, Unorganized has 98% of the 2,611 towns above it.
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 Division No. 1, Unorganized 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).
21% of homes tested around Division No. 1, Unorganized are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the North Eastman health region
Division No. 1, Unorganized’s area, at 21%, is above the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town, so testing is worth more here than most places.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Division No. 1, Unorganized’s area, at 21%, is above the median in Manitoba (12%), and 1% 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.
Few of Canada’s 2,611 towns (3.1%) share the 20–30% band with Division No. 1, Unorganized, and 1.5% sit above it.
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.
A low area share in Division No. 1, Unorganized doesn’t clear a house, nor does a high one condemn it: test.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Division No. 1, Unorganized
Alerts for Division No. 1, Unorganized 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. |
Alert Ready carries evacuation orders for Division No. 1, Unorganized to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what Division No. 1, Unorganized faces
What to do about the hazards Division No. 1, Unorganized 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. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Division No. 1, Unorganized.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Division No. 1, Unorganized is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Division No. 1, Unorganized, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Division No. 1, Unorganized’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
Questions about flooding and hazards in Division No. 1, Unorganized
How big is the earthquake risk in Division No. 1, Unorganized?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Division No. 1, Unorganized $0.004 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
How is Division No. 1, Unorganized’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Division No. 1, Unorganized grades D− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is radon a problem in Division No. 1, Unorganized?
In Health Canada’s survey, 21% of 100 homes tested in Division No. 1, Unorganized’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Does Division No. 1, Unorganized flood?
Nothing is listed for Division No. 1, Unorganized on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
Is Division No. 1, Unorganized at risk of wildfire?
Yes, by Canadian standards: Division No. 1, Unorganized’s band is high, with 13% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2025), so wildfire counts against its Risk 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).