St. George’s hazards at a glance: a low wildfire record and 12% of area homes over the radon guideline
For St. George, wildfire history is close to nil: 0% of nearby land since 1986, 0.001% a year. Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.006 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. St. George grades B+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about St. George’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for St. George: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What St. George faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in St. George: B+
Earthquake risk and radon make St. George’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. 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.
Little of the land around St. George has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around St. George’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
With 0.001% burned a year, St. George is among the many low-band places (the typical Canadian town 0.000%).
The closest burn since 1986 lies 22 km from St. George’s homes, none within 5 km.
With 0% forest fuel within 5 km and 0% within 25 km, the land around St. George gives a fire little to burn.
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, St. George 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.
Some fire is mapped around St. George, 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 St. George
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for St. George: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
There is no study for St. George on the national flood inventory, which is far from complete.
Towns with a flood study on file
St. George 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 St. George 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 St. George just $0.006 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Shaking costs the typical town $0.030 a year; in St. George it is only $0.006, 0.2 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
St. George’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.
St. George 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).
The loss is to St. George’s buildings alone, from ground shaking; infrastructure and secondary hazards are left out.
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
12% of homes tested around St. George are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
A higher share than most: 12% of tested homes around St. George, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around St. George, 12% of tests topped the guideline, about the same as the typical town in Manitoba (12%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
More high tests than most: St. George sits in a band that only 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns share, with 4.6% 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.
Basements, soil and how a house is sealed decide its radon, so in St. George only a test can say.
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 St. George
Alerts for St. George 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 St. George to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around St. George
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. George | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Alpine Place 3,721 · 1.1 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Worthington 6,093 · 1.4 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Niakwa Place 3,461 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Glenwood 6,617 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Pulberry 7,723 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Meadowood 6,991 · 2.2 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around St. George (low), with Alpine Place next at low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what St. George faces
Practical steps for St. George’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
- 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 St. George floods.
- 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 St. George sits in.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around St. George’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; St. George’s figure is its subdivision’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in St. George
Does St. George flood?
The inventory has 0 studies for St. George, and an empty list isn’t a clean bill: the municipality holds any flood maps.
How big is the earthquake risk in St. George?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in St. George $0.006 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
How is St. George’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives St. George B+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is St. George at risk of wildfire?
Some, but St. George’s low band (0% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2012) is short of the level that counts.
Is radon a problem in St. George?
The area’s survey found 12% of 66 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in St. George.
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).