Photo: Sajith T S · CC BY-SA 2.0Wildfire low, radon 12%: how King Edward stands on hazards
For King Edward, wildfire history is close to nil: 0% of nearby land since 1986, 0.000% a year. Seismic risk runs low: $0.006 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. King Edward grades B+ for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about King Edward’s hazards
For King Edward, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What King Edward faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
King Edward grades B+ for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like King Edward with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
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. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Wildfire is rare near King Edward: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where King Edward’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Next to the typical Canadian town (0.000% a year), King Edward’s 0.000% is in the low band.
Around King Edward the forest is thin or far off: 0% of the land within 5 km and 0% within 25 km is forest fuel.
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
Fire has taken almost none of the land around King Edward, as for 60 of the 189 towns in Manitoba; Flin Flon (Part) tops the list 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.
The low band holds 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, and King Edward 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 King Edward
Flood studies whose area touches King Edward, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
An empty entry for King Edward on the inventory isn’t proof of safety; ask locally for flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Manitoba, 18% of towns against 58% nationally, and King Edward has none.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of King Edward’s homes stand in a flood zone.
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 King Edward just $0.006 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.
King Edward’s $0.006 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.2 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
King Edward 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
About level with the typical town in Manitoba: King Edward’s $0.006 against $0.006; Virden reaches $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.
King Edward is in the lower part of Canada’s range for earthquake risk; 88% of the 2,611 towns are higher.
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).
For King Edward the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Test for radon in King Edward: 12% of area homes were over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
the typical Canadian town has 6.6% over the guideline; King Edward’s area has 12%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
King Edward’s area, at 12%, 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.
The 10–20% band holds 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, King Edward among them; 4.6% rank above.
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.
A low area share in King Edward doesn’t clear a house, nor does a high one condemn it: test.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Data for radon tests covers the Winnipeg health region
Where to get warnings in King Edward
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for King Edward; 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 King Edward, 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)
How King Edward’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| King Edward | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Old Tuxedo 6,812 · 1.5 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Deer Lodge 3,691 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Minto 5,830 · 1.9 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Sargent Park 6,242 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| North River Heights 7,228 · 2.5 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Tuxedo 4,295 · 2.5 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
The fire record around Minto is a touch heavier than King Edward’s, but the band is the same: low (here low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what King Edward faces
What to do about the hazards King Edward faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- 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 King Edward is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Wildfire counts one way. For King Edward, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for King Edward’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- 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 King Edward.
Questions about flooding and hazards in King Edward
How is King Edward’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
King Edward grades B+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is radon a problem in King Edward?
In Health Canada’s survey, 12% of 66 homes tested in King Edward’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Is King Edward at risk of wildfire?
The burned-area record shows next to nothing around King Edward (0% within 25 km since 1986), so its band is low.
How big is the earthquake risk in King Edward?
About $0.006 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for King Edward.
Does King Edward flood?
Nothing is listed for King Edward on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
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).