Photo: Mennowiki · CC BY-SA 4.0Steinbach’s hazards at a glance: a moderate wildfire record and 9.7% of area homes over the radon guideline
Wildfire is a moderate presence around Steinbach: 2.8% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, 0.09% a year, short of the band that counts against Risk. Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.005 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Hazard risk gives Steinbach a grade of A−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Steinbach’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Steinbach: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Steinbach faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Steinbach: A−
The grade weighs Steinbach’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
Its place: #1 of 185 in Manitoba and #635 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
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 Steinbach: 0.3% within 5 km, 2.8% within 25 km
Past fire around Steinbach’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Steinbach is 0.09%, above 0.000% for the typical Canadian town but under the high band.
Forest makes up 0% of the land within 5 km of Steinbach and 1.4% within 25 km, little for a forest fire to run through.
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: Steinbach ranks 15th of 189 at 0.09% 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.
Steinbach is in the moderate band, which holds 5.4% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 2.1% rank higher.
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 Steinbach
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Steinbach: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
No flood study on the national inventory covers Steinbach; ask the municipality, which is the authority for its flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Manitoba reaches 18% of towns, below the 58% across Canada, and not Steinbach.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for Steinbach.
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 Steinbach: $0.005 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
0.2 times the typical $0.030: Steinbach’s $0.005 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Typical for its province: Steinbach at $0.005 beside a median in Manitoba of $0.006, with Virden on top 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.
Steinbach is among Canada’s quietest towns for earthquakes: 96% of the 2,611 expect more damage.
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 model counts damage to Steinbach’s buildings and their occupants from shaking only: not liquefaction, landslides, tsunami or fires after a quake.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon about average around Steinbach: 9.7% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Radon tests for the South Eastman health region
Near the middle for radon: Steinbach’s area 9.7%, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Steinbach’s area, at 9.7%, is close to the median in Manitoba (12%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Steinbach is in the 5–10% band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% have more.
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.
The survey sampled homes around Steinbach; it can’t tell you your basement’s level.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Steinbach
Alerts for Steinbach 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. |
Fire danger and active fires near Steinbach are mapped daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System; evacuation orders come from the municipality or province.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Steinbach
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steinbach | Moderate | $0.005 | 9.7% | None listed |
| Mitchell 19,950 · 7.7 km | Moderate | $0.005 | 9.7% | Yes |
| La Broquerie 7,808 · 10 km | High | $0.005 | 9.7% | Yes |
| Ste. Anne 3,587 · 16 km | High | $0.005 | 9.7% | Yes |
| Ste. Anne 6,387 · 18 km | Moderate | $0.005 | 9.7% | Yes |
Ste. Anne has the most fire around it, a high band against Steinbach’s moderate.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Steinbach faces
What to do about the hazards Steinbach 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
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Steinbach’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Steinbach without grading them.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Steinbach’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Radon is a survey. Radon figures pool the survey’s home tests by area: postal areas once their boundaries arrive, the 2007 health region around Steinbach until then.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Steinbach
How big is the earthquake risk in Steinbach?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Steinbach’s buildings lose $0.005 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
How is Steinbach’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Steinbach grades A− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is Steinbach at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 2.8% of the land around Steinbach since 1986 (last in 2024); at moderate, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Is radon a problem in Steinbach?
Around Steinbach, 113 survey homes were tested and 9.7% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Does Steinbach flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Steinbach’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
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).