Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainDivision No. 19, Unorganized faces more hazards than 99% of Canadian towns
With 0.71% of the land around it burning each year, Division No. 19, Unorganized sits in the high wildfire band (25% 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. More homes than usual carry radon here, 21% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Division No. 19, Unorganized a grade of D−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Division No. 19, Unorganized’s hazards
For Division No. 19, Unorganized, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Division No. 19, 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. 19, Unorganized: D−
Earthquake risk and radon make Division No. 19, Unorganized’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
Its place: #2,579 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
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.
A high wildfire band for Division No. 19, Unorganized: 29% within 5 km, 25% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Division No. 19, Unorganized’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
High: the land around Division No. 19, Unorganized burns at 0.71% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
There is forest near Division No. 19, Unorganized’s homes (31% within 5 km) and more of it further out (38% 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 189
In the top quarter in Manitoba: Division No. 19, Unorganized ranks 2nd of 189 at 0.71% 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.
Division No. 19, 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.
Hydrologic Forecasting and Water Management Branch of Manitoba Transporation and Infrastructure has mapped flooding for Division No. 19, Unorganized (1 study)
Flood studies whose area touches Division No. 19, Unorganized, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
A 2025 study by Hydrologic Forecasting and Water Management Branch of Manitoba Transporation and Infrastructure covers Division No. 19, Unorganized, and its map, not the inventory, shows the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hydrodynamic Modelling Study for the Fisher River (Pegius First Nation, Hodgson, Fisher River Cree Nation, and Fisher Branch) | Hydrologic Forecasting and Water Management Branch of Manitoba Transporation and Infrastructure | 2025 | final · not public |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study sets Division No. 19, Unorganized apart in Manitoba, where 18% of towns have one (Canada: 58%).
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Division No. 19, Unorganized’s homes stand in a flood zone.
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 Division No. 19, Unorganized just $0.004 per $1,000 a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
Shaking costs the typical town $0.030 a year; in Division No. 19, Unorganized it is only $0.004, 0.1 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in Manitoba expects $0.006 a year in shaking damage; Division No. 19, Unorganized expects less, $0.004, and Virden the most, $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 (98%) expects more shaking damage than Division No. 19, Unorganized.
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. 19, 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).
Radon runs high around Division No. 19, Unorganized: 21% of tested homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Shared with the rest of the North Eastman health region: radon tests
Radon runs above the typical Canadian town (6.6%) in Division No. 19, Unorganized’s area, at 21%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Division No. 19, Unorganized, 21% of tests were over 200 Bq/m³ and 1% over 600, against a median of 12% in Manitoba.
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 Division No. 19, Unorganized; 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.
Neighbouring homes in Division No. 19, Unorganized can differ a lot; only a long-term test tells you about yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Division No. 19, Unorganized
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Division No. 19, Unorganized; 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. |
For fires near Division No. 19, Unorganized, the national fire information system maps danger and active fires daily; local authorities give any evacuation order.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what Division No. 19, Unorganized faces
Practical steps for Division No. 19, Unorganized’s hazards, most pressing first.
- 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?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- 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. 19, 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. 19, Unorganized is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Division No. 19, Unorganized’s included.
- Wildfire counts one way. Burned land within 25 km of where people live, averaged over 1986–2025 and checked for fuel near homes, is the measure; it looks back, not ahead, and only ever counts against Division No. 19, Unorganized.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Division No. 19, Unorganized
Is radon a problem in Division No. 19, Unorganized?
The area’s survey found 21% of 100 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Division No. 19, Unorganized.
How is Division No. 19, Unorganized’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Division No. 19, Unorganized D−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does Division No. 19, Unorganized flood?
There is flood mapping for Division No. 19, Unorganized on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
How big is the earthquake risk in Division No. 19, Unorganized?
Expected earthquake damage in Division No. 19, Unorganized comes to $0.004 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is Division No. 19, Unorganized at risk of wildfire?
Wildfire is Division No. 19, Unorganized’s main hazard, band high: 25% of the land within 25 km burned between 1986 and 2025.
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).