Hazards in St. Matthews: wildfire low, radon over the guideline in 12% of tested homes
Wildfire barely registers for St. Matthews, at 0% of the land within 25 km 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. Matthews grades B+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about St. Matthews’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for St. Matthews: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What St. Matthews faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
St. Matthews grades B+ for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like St. Matthews 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. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Little of the land around St. Matthews has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around St. Matthews’ homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low: the land around St. Matthews burns at 0.001% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Fire has stayed at least 22 km from St. Matthews’ homes since 1986.
Only 0% of the land within 25 km of St. Matthews is forest fuel, and 0% close in.
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
St. Matthews ranks 31st of the 189 towns in Manitoba for burn rate, at 0.001% a year; Flin Flon (Part) leads with 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 takes in 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, St. Matthews among them, though its rate is above zero; 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.
No flood study is listed for St. Matthews
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for St. Matthews: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
An empty entry for St. Matthews 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 St. Matthews 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 St. Matthews’ 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.”
Low seismic risk in St. Matthews: $0.006 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
0.2 times the typical $0.030: St. Matthews’ $0.006 is low for Canada.
St. Matthews shares its earthquake risk numbers with the rest of the city of Winnipeg.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk around St. Matthews ($0.006) matches the middle in Manitoba ($0.006), far from Virden’s $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.
Most of Canada’s 2,611 towns (88%) face more earthquake damage than St. Matthews.
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. Matthews’ 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).
Radon runs high around St. Matthews: 12% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
the typical Canadian town has 6.6% over the guideline; St. Matthews’ area has 12%. For radon tests, the only official count covers all of the Winnipeg health region, St. Matthews included.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The typical town in Manitoba has 12% over 200 Bq/m³; St. Matthews’ 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.
More high tests than most: St. Matthews 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.
The survey sampled homes around St. Matthews; it can’t tell you your basement’s level.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for St. Matthews
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for St. Matthews; 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for St. Matthews come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around St. Matthews
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Matthews | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Daniel McIntyre 9,584 · 0.8 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Spence 4,378 · 0.8 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| West Broadway 6,537 · 1.0 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Central Park 4,328 · 1.2 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| West Alexander 5,161 · 1.3 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Wolseley 8,127 · 1.3 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
Nowhere around St. Matthews burns more: Daniel McIntyre, 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 St. Matthews faces
What to do about the hazards St. Matthews 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. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in St. Matthews.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, St. Matthews takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- 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 St. Matthews’.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of St. Matthews’ homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
Questions about flooding and hazards in St. Matthews
How is St. Matthews’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
St. Matthews grades B+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in St. Matthews?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in St. Matthews $0.006 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is radon a problem in St. Matthews?
Around St. Matthews, 66 survey homes were tested and 12% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Does St. Matthews flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, St. Matthews’ flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
Is St. Matthews at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around St. Matthews since 1986 (last in 2012); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the 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).