Radon is Poplar River 16’s main hazard: 21% of tested homes in its area top Health Canada’s guideline
Some 7.7% of the land within 25 km of Poplar River 16 has burned since 1986; at 0.23% a year that is moderate, not high. Seismic risk runs low: $0.004 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Hazard risk gives Poplar River 16 a grade of B; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Poplar River 16’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Poplar River 16: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Poplar River 16 faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Poplar River 16 grades B for hazard risk
The grade weighs Poplar River 16’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: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Fire reaches the land around Poplar River 16: 20% within 5 km, 7.7% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Poplar River 16’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The yearly burn rate around Poplar River 16 is 0.23%, above 0.000% for the typical Canadian town but under the high band.
Forest fuel is spread evenly around Poplar River 16: 76% within 5 km, 75% 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
Poplar River 16 ranks 8th of the 190 towns in Manitoba for burn rate, at 0.23% 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.
Only 5.4% of Canada’s 2,610 towns share the moderate band with Poplar River 16, 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 Poplar River 16
Flood studies whose area touches Poplar River 16, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
An empty entry for Poplar River 16 on the inventory isn’t proof of safety; ask locally for flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Manitoba, 18% of towns against 58% nationally, and Poplar River 16 has none.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Poplar River 16’s homes are at risk.
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.”
Low seismic risk in Poplar River 16: $0.004 per $1,000 of buildings a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
Poplar River 16’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
The typical town in Manitoba expects $0.006 a year in shaking damage; Poplar River 16 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 Poplar River 16.
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).
Roads, pipes and bridges aren’t in Poplar River 16’s figure, nor landslides or tsunami: it is buildings and shaking.
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 Poplar River 16: 21% of tested homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Source area for radon tests: the North Eastman health region
Radon runs above the typical Canadian town (6.6%) in Poplar River 16’s area, at 21%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
More homes top the guideline around Poplar River 16 (21%) than in the typical town in Manitoba (12%); 1% went over 600.
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 Poplar River 16, 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.
Basements, soil and how a house is sealed decide its radon, so in Poplar River 16 only a test can say.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Poplar River 16
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Poplar River 16; 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for Poplar River 16 come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what Poplar River 16 faces
What to do about the hazards Poplar River 16 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
- Radon is a survey. The radon share comes from about 14,000 long-term home tests in 2009–2011, pooled for now by the 2007 health region Poplar River 16 sits in.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. A study’s area can be a whole watershed or province, so being on the inventory says a map exists, not that a home in Poplar River 16 floods.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Poplar River 16’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Poplar River 16’s figure is its subdivision’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Poplar River 16
Does Poplar River 16 flood?
Nothing is listed for Poplar River 16 on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
Is radon a problem in Poplar River 16?
In Health Canada’s survey, 21% of 100 homes tested in Poplar River 16’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How big is the earthquake risk in Poplar River 16?
Expected earthquake damage in Poplar River 16 comes to $0.004 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
How is Poplar River 16’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Poplar River 16’s Hazard risk grade is B, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is Poplar River 16 at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 7.7% of the land within 25 km of Poplar River 16 has burned since 1986, the last in 2021, a moderate band that leaves Risk alone.
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).