Photo: Svhartje · CC BY-SA 3.043% of homes tested in Swan Valley West’s area are above the radon guideline
The national fire record shows next to nothing around Swan Valley West, 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.000% a year). 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 Swan Valley West a grade of B−, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Swan Valley West’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Swan Valley West: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Swan Valley West faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Swan Valley West grades B− for hazard risk
For Swan Valley West, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
Its place: #168 of 185 in Manitoba and #1,707 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Wildfire is rare near Swan Valley West: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Swan Valley West’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
At 0.000% of the land a year, Swan Valley West’s burn rate is in the low band; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Fire has stayed at least 9.9 km from Swan Valley West’s homes since 1986.
Forest fuel rises from 0.6% within 5 km of Swan Valley West to 8% within 25 km: the fuel lies away from homes.
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
To three decimals the burn rate around Swan Valley West is zero, as for 60 of the 189 towns in Manitoba, while Flin Flon (Part) reaches 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.
The low band holds 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, and Swan Valley West sits at its very bottom; only 7.5% are 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.
No flood study is listed for Swan Valley West
Flood studies whose area touches Swan Valley West, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
NRCan’s inventory is silent on Swan Valley West, so any flood map would be the municipality’s own.
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Manitoba reaches 18% of towns, below the 58% across Canada, and not Swan Valley West.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping is shown for Swan Valley West to be opened and checked, never turned into a grade.
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 Swan Valley West: $0.005 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.
Shaking costs the typical town $0.030 a year; in Swan Valley West it is only $0.005, 0.2 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Shaking damage around Swan Valley West runs at $0.005 a year, near the $0.006 of the typical town in Manitoba; Virden has $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.
Swan Valley West 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).
Roads, pipes and bridges aren’t in Swan Valley West’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 Swan Valley West: 43% of tested homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
More homes than usual test high around Swan Valley West: 43% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Swan Valley West, 43% of tests were over 200 Bq/m³ and 12% 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.
At least three tests in ten top the guideline around Swan Valley West, a level reached by 1.5% of Canada’s towns.
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 Swan Valley West 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). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the Parkland health region
Weather and fire alerts for Swan Valley West
Alerts for Swan Valley West 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. |
Evacuation orders for Swan Valley West come from the municipality or the province, while CWFIS maps fire danger every day.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Swan Valley West
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swan Valley West | Low | $0.005 | 43% | None listed |
| Swan River 4,048 · 16 km | Low | $0.006 | 43% | None listed |
Nowhere around Swan Valley West burns more: Swan River, the closest rival, is low to its low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Swan Valley West faces
Practical steps for Swan Valley West’s hazards, most pressing first.
- 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.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Swan Valley West is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- 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 Swan Valley West.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Swan Valley West’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Swan Valley West’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Swan Valley West
How big is the earthquake risk in Swan Valley West?
About $0.005 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Swan Valley West.
Does Swan Valley West flood?
The inventory has 0 studies for Swan Valley West, and an empty list isn’t a clean bill: the municipality holds any flood maps.
How is Swan Valley West’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Swan Valley West’s Hazard risk grade is B−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is radon a problem in Swan Valley West?
The area’s survey found 43% of 122 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Swan Valley West.
Is Swan Valley West at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Swan Valley West’s low band (0% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2025) is short of the level that counts.
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).