Photo: Amakuha · CC BY 4.0Wildfire low, radon 12%: how Burrows Central stands on hazards
Fire has left almost no mark near Burrows Central: 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.001% a year. Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.006 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Hazard risk gives Burrows Central a grade of B+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Burrows Central’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Burrows Central: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Burrows Central faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Burrows Central: B+
Earthquake risk and radon make Burrows Central’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
Its place: #10 of 185 in Manitoba and #940 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The radon share rests on 66 home tests in the survey area, so a few homes move it. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Few fires near Burrows Central: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Burrows Central’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The land within 25 km of Burrows Central burns at 0.001% a year on average, the low band; the typical Canadian town: 0.000%.
The 5 km ring around Burrows Central’s homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 20 km out.
Little near Burrows Central’s homes can carry a forest fire; only 0% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, and 0.1% 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 189
At 0.001% a year, Burrows Central is near the top in Manitoba: 31st of 189, behind Flin Flon (Part) (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.
7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns burn fast enough to rank moderate or above; Burrows Central stays low, with 92%.
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 Burrows Central
Flood studies whose area touches Burrows Central, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
An empty entry for Burrows Central on the inventory isn’t proof of safety; ask locally for flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Only 18% of towns in Manitoba have a flood study, short of Canada’s 58%, and Burrows Central is not among them.
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 Burrows Central.
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 Burrows Central: $0.006 a year per $1,000
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
At $0.006 per $1,000, Burrows Central carries 0.2 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030): low.
Burrows Central doesn’t get its own earthquake risk figures; the ones here come from the city of Winnipeg.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The median in Manitoba is $0.006; Burrows Central, at $0.006, is right beside it, and Virden tops the list 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.
88% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Burrows Central.
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 Burrows Central’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).
12% of homes tested around Burrows Central are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
A higher share than most: 12% of tested homes around Burrows Central, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The typical town in Manitoba has 12% over 200 Bq/m³; Burrows Central’s area has 12%, much the same.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Burrows Central is in the 10–20% band, with 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; only 4.6% are higher.
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 Burrows Central 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). · Not measured by town: radon tests (the Winnipeg health region)
Weather and fire alerts for Burrows Central
Alerts for Burrows Central 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 Burrows Central 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)
How Burrows Central’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burrows Central | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Shaughnessy Park 5,169 · 0.9 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Robertson 5,090 · 1.0 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Inkster-Faraday 3,700 · 1.2 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| William Whyte 11,432 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Burrows-Keewatin 2,506 · 2.0 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Weston 6,661 · 2.1 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around Burrows Central (low), with Shaughnessy Park next at low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Burrows Central faces
Practical steps for Burrows Central’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
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Burrows Central’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; Burrows Central’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Burrows Central takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- 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 Burrows Central.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Burrows Central
Is radon a problem in Burrows Central?
12% of the 66 homes Health Canada tested around Burrows Central topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
Is Burrows Central at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Burrows Central’s band is low, with 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2012), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
How is Burrows Central’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Burrows Central B+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does Burrows Central flood?
No study on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory covers Burrows Central (0), which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped, so ask the municipality.
How big is the earthquake risk in Burrows Central?
About $0.006 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Burrows Central.
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).