Photo: Amakuha · CC BY 4.0Wildfire low, radon 12%: how Riverbend stands on hazards
The national fire record shows next to nothing around Riverbend, 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 Riverbend a grade of B+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Riverbend’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Riverbend: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Riverbend faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Riverbend: B+
Earthquake risk and radon make Riverbend’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: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. 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 Riverbend: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Riverbend’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Low by Canadian standards: 0.001% of the land a year around Riverbend, 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
The closest burn since 1986 lies 13 km from Riverbend’s homes, none within 5 km.
Little near Riverbend’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
In the top quarter in Manitoba: Riverbend ranks 31st of 189 at 0.001% a year, with Flin Flon (Part) first 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.
7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns burn fast enough to rank moderate or above; Riverbend 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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Riverbend
Flood studies whose area touches Riverbend, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
An empty entry for Riverbend on the inventory isn’t proof of safety; ask locally for flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Manitoba reaches 18% of towns, below the 58% across Canada, and not Riverbend.
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 Riverbend 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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Riverbend 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.
At $0.006 per $1,000, Riverbend carries 0.2 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030): low.
Riverbend 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: Riverbend’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.
88% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Riverbend.
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 Riverbend’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).
Test for radon in Riverbend: 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.
A higher share than most: 12% of tested homes around Riverbend, the typical Canadian town 6.6%. Riverbend shares its radon tests numbers with the rest of the Winnipeg health region.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Riverbend’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.
4.6% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Riverbend, in the 10–20% band with 22%.
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 Riverbend only a test can say.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Riverbend
Alerts for Riverbend 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 Riverbend 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)
Hazards in the places around Riverbend
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riverbend | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Rivergrove 2,742 · 0.5 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Valhalla 3,153 · 1.3 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Kildonan Drive 5,063 · 2.5 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| West Kildonan Industrial 3,678 · 2.5 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| River East 7,774 · 2.6 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Rossmere-A 13,613 · 2.6 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
Among its neighbours Riverbend has the most fire on record (low); Rivergrove follows (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Riverbend faces
Practical steps for Riverbend’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
- Earthquakes are modelled. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as Riverbend’s.
- 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 Riverbend sits in.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Riverbend’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- 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 Riverbend floods.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Riverbend
Is radon a problem in Riverbend?
12% of the 66 homes Health Canada tested around Riverbend topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
Does Riverbend flood?
No study on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory covers Riverbend (0), which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped, so ask the municipality.
How big is the earthquake risk in Riverbend?
Expected earthquake damage in Riverbend comes to $0.006 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
How is Riverbend’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Riverbend grades B+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is Riverbend at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Riverbend’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.
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).