Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainWest Interlake faces more hazards than 98% of Canadian towns
With 0.59% of the land around it burning each year, West Interlake sits in the high wildfire band (21% within 25 km since 1986). Seismic risk runs low: $0.005 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. In Health Canada’s survey, 25% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives West Interlake a grade of D−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about West Interlake’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for West Interlake: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What West Interlake faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in West Interlake: D−
Two inputs always count for West Interlake, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
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.
A high wildfire band for West Interlake: 5.4% within 5 km, 21% within 25 km
Past fire around West Interlake’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
At 0.59% of the land a year, West Interlake’s burn rate is high, many times the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
Land that isn’t forest covers nearly all the ground around West Interlake: forest fuel is 0.4% within 5 km and 2.3% 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
West Interlake ranks 3rd of the 190 towns in Manitoba for burn rate, at 0.59% 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.
High is rare: 1.9% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, West Interlake among them, with 0.2% higher still.
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 West Interlake
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for West Interlake: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The inventory has nothing for West Interlake, but a local or conservation-authority map may still exist.
Towns with a flood study on file
Only 18% of towns in Manitoba have a flood study, short of Canada’s 58%, and West Interlake is not among them.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that West Interlake floods.
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 West Interlake: $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: West Interlake’s $0.005 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
West Interlake’s $0.005 is close to the median in Manitoba, $0.006; Virden is highest 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.
West Interlake 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 West Interlake’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 runs high around West Interlake: 25% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
More homes than usual test high around West Interlake: 25% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town. West Interlake shares its radon tests numbers with the rest of the Interlake health region.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The median in Manitoba is 12% over 200 Bq/m³; the survey area around West Interlake has 25%.
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 West Interlake, 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 West Interlake only a test can say.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for West Interlake
Alerts for West Interlake 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. |
Alert Ready carries evacuation orders for West Interlake to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what West Interlake faces
What to do about the hazards West Interlake 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 West Interlake’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; West Interlake’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in West Interlake.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, West Interlake takes its 2007 health region’s share.
Questions about flooding and hazards in West Interlake
How is West Interlake’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
West Interlake’s Hazard risk grade is D−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is West Interlake at risk of wildfire?
More than most Canadian towns; West Interlake’s high band rests on 21% of nearby land burned since 1986 (most recently 2025).
Is radon a problem in West Interlake?
Around West Interlake, 121 survey homes were tested and 25% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How big is the earthquake risk in West Interlake?
In NRCan’s seismic model, West Interlake’s buildings lose $0.005 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Does West Interlake flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, West Interlake’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).