Hazard risk in Split Lake 171 is higher than in almost every Canadian town
Wildfire is Split Lake 171’s dominant hazard: 60% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, 1.56% a year. 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. Split Lake 171’s survey area, 7.9% over the radon guideline, is close to the typical town’s 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Split Lake 171 a grade of D−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Split Lake 171’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Split Lake 171: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Split Lake 171 faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Split Lake 171 grades D− for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Split Lake 171, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
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 country: 60% of the land within 25 km of Split Lake 171 has burned since 1986, 62% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Split Lake 171’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Very high: the land around Split Lake 171 burns at 1.56% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Forest thickens with distance from Split Lake 171: 17% of the land within 5 km, 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 190
Flin Flon (Part) burns fastest in Manitoba at 1.68% a year; Split Lake 171, at 1.56%, ranks 2nd of 190.
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.
Few places in Canada burn like the land around Split Lake 171: the very high band holds 0.2% of the 2,610 towns.
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 Split Lake 171
Flood studies whose area touches Split Lake 171, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists no study whose area touches Split Lake 171, which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Manitoba, 18% of towns against 58% nationally, and Split Lake 171 has none.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Nothing here counts toward Risk; the studies are pointers to the maps their owners keep for Split Lake 171.
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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Split Lake 171 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.
0.1 times the typical $0.030: Split Lake 171’s $0.004 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Manitoba peaks in Virden ($0.007); Split Lake 171, at $0.004, is below the median of $0.006.
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, Split Lake 171 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).
The loss is to Split Lake 171’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 Split Lake 171 are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Split Lake 171’s area, at 7.9%, is close to the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town. Figures for radon tests are published for the Burntwood/Churchill health region as a whole, not for Split Lake 171 alone.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Fewer homes top the guideline around Split Lake 171 (7.9%) than in the typical town in Manitoba (12%), yet 0.7% went over 600.
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 Split Lake 171’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.
One home in Split Lake 171 can be high while next door is low; a three-month test settles it.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Split Lake 171
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Split Lake 171; 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 Split Lake 171, 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 Split Lake 171 faces
What to do about the hazards Split Lake 171 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
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Split Lake 171’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Split Lake 171’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- 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 Split Lake 171 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 Split Lake 171 floods.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Split Lake 171
Is radon a problem in Split Lake 171?
Around Split Lake 171, 152 survey homes were tested and 7.9% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Is Split Lake 171 at risk of wildfire?
More than most Canadian towns; Split Lake 171’s very high band rests on 60% of nearby land burned since 1986 (most recently 2025).
How is Split Lake 171’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Split Lake 171 grades D− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Does Split Lake 171 flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Split Lake 171’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
How big is the earthquake risk in Split Lake 171?
About $0.004 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Split Lake 171.
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).