Photo: Greg N · CC BY-SA 3.0Pulberry’s hazards at a glance: a low wildfire record and 12% of area homes over the radon guideline
No wildfire is mapped within 25 km of Pulberry’s homes since 1986 (0% of the land, 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). Pulberry grades B+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Pulberry’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Pulberry: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Pulberry faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Pulberry: B+
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Pulberry 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: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Only 66 homes were tested in the survey area, so the radon share is rough. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Few fires near Pulberry: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Pulberry’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
In a typical year 0.001% of the land near Pulberry burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
No fire has burned within 5 km of Pulberry’s homes since 1986; the nearest burn is 24 km away.
Forest makes up 0% of the land within 5 km of Pulberry and 0% 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
The land around Pulberry burns at 0.001% a year, the 31st highest rate of 189 towns in Manitoba; Flin Flon (Part) tops it 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.
Some fire is mapped around Pulberry, but not enough to leave the low band, where 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are; 7.5% 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 Pulberry
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Pulberry: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Nationally, Pulberry has no listed flood study; the municipality is the place to ask.
Towns with a flood study on file
Pulberry has no flood study on file; only 18% of towns in Manitoba do, against 58% across Canada.
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 Pulberry 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 Pulberry: $0.006 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Pulberry’s $0.006 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.2 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Pulberry’s $0.006 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.
88% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Pulberry.
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 Pulberry’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). · Area behind the earthquake risk figures: the city of Winnipeg
Radon runs high around Pulberry: 12% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Radon tests for the Winnipeg health region
A higher share than most: 12% of tested homes around Pulberry, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon around Pulberry is ordinary for towns in Manitoba: 12%, beside a median of 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, Pulberry 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.
One home in Pulberry 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).
Weather and fire alerts for Pulberry
Alerts for Pulberry 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 Pulberry 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)
How Pulberry’s neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pulberry | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Minnetonka 4,461 · 1.3 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Worthington 6,093 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| St. George 4,254 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Point Road 3,290 · 1.9 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Pembina Strip 4,715 · 2.0 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Meadowood 6,991 · 2.1 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
Nowhere around Pulberry burns more: Worthington, 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 Pulberry faces
What to do about the hazards Pulberry 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
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. A study’s area can be a whole watershed or province, so being on the inventory says a map exists, not that a home in Pulberry floods.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Pulberry’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Radon is a survey. The radon share comes from about 14,000 long-term home tests in 2009–2011, pooled for now by the 2007 health region Pulberry sits in.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Pulberry’s figure is its subdivision’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Pulberry
Does Pulberry flood?
Nothing is listed for Pulberry on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
How big is the earthquake risk in Pulberry?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Pulberry’s buildings lose $0.006 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
How is Pulberry’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Pulberry B+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is radon a problem in Pulberry?
In Health Canada’s survey, 12% of 66 homes tested in Pulberry’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Is Pulberry at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Pulberry has burned since 1986, the last in 2012, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
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).