Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainOn hazards, Fisher comes out behind 96% of Canadian towns
Wildfire is a real hazard for Fisher: 12% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, 0.32% a year, in the high band. Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.005 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). More homes than usual carry radon here, 25% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Fisher a grade of D−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Fisher’s hazards
For Fisher, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Fisher faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Fisher: D−
The grade weighs Fisher’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.
0.2% of the land near Fisher’s homes has burned since 1986, 12% within 25 km
Past fire around Fisher’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
High: the land around Fisher burns at 0.32% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Forest fuel is scarce around Fisher: 1.5% of the land within 5 km, 4.8% 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: Fisher ranks 5th of 190 at 0.32% 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.
Just 1.9% of Canada’s 2,610 towns burn fast enough for the high band where Fisher sits; 0.2% burn faster.
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.
Fisher is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Hydrologic Forecasting and Water Management Branch of Manitoba Transporation and Infrastructure
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Fisher: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
A 2025 study by Hydrologic Forecasting and Water Management Branch of Manitoba Transporation and Infrastructure covers Fisher, 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 Fisher 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 Fisher’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.
Low seismic risk in Fisher: $0.005 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Fisher’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
The median in Manitoba is $0.006; Fisher, at $0.005, is right beside it, and Virden tops the list 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.
Nearly every one of Canada’s 2,611 towns (96%) expects more shaking damage than Fisher.
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).
For Fisher the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
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 Fisher: 25% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Fisher’s area, at 25%, is above the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town, so testing is worth more here than most places. For radon tests, the only official count covers all of the Interlake health region, Fisher included.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Fisher’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.
Fisher is in the 20–30% band, which holds only 3.1% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 1.5% are 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.
Radon varies from house to house in Fisher, so the survey is a reason to test, not a result for yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Fisher
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Fisher; 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. |
In fire season, check CWFIS for danger and active fires around Fisher, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what Fisher faces
What to do about the hazards Fisher 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?
- 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
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Fisher’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- 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 Fisher.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Fisher, 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. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Fisher is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Fisher
How big is the earthquake risk in Fisher?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Fisher’s buildings lose $0.005 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Does Fisher flood?
There is flood mapping for Fisher on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
Is Fisher at risk of wildfire?
Yes, by Canadian standards: Fisher’s band is high, with 12% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2025), so wildfire counts against its Risk grade.
How is Fisher’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Fisher’s Hazard risk grade is D−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is radon a problem in Fisher?
In Health Canada’s survey, 25% of 121 homes tested in Fisher’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
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).