Wildfire evacuation and its alternatives: perspectives from four United States’ communities

McCaffrey, Sarah; Rhodes, A.; Stidham, Melanie

doi:10.1071/wf13050

Cited by 67 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Studies on social dynamics during and post-fire from outside Australia cover a range of topics including evacuation patterns [44], community perceptions of alternatives to evacuation [45][46][47], community economic impacts [48], influence of fire experience on homeowner relocation decisions [49], and views of fire management and recovery activities during and after a fire [50][51][52][53][54][55][56].…”

Section: Experiencing and Recovering From A Wildfirementioning

confidence: 99%

Community Wildfire Preparedness: a Global State-of-the-Knowledge Summary of Social Science Research

McCaffrey

2015

Curr Forestry Rep

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158

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This article builds on findings from a synthesis of fire social science research that was published from 2000 to 2010 to understand what has been learned more recently about public response to wildfires. Two notable changes were immediately noted in the fairly substantial number of articles published between 2011 and 2014. First, while over 90 % of the articles found in the initial synthesis were US-based studies, roughly half of the articles published since 2010 have been conducted outside the USA, the majority from Australia. Second, while the primary focus of earlier studies was on pre-fire mitigation efforts on both public and private lands, roughly half of the recent articles focused on dynamics during and after a fire. Overall, findings from the current review re-enforce key themes identified in the previous synthesis work and provide a deeper and more nuanced understanding of how certain variables, such as risk perception, may influence public response to wildfires. In addition, several important dynamics emerged across studies: the similarity of findings across countries, increased work across the temporal gradient, the importance of social interactions and of place attachment in shaping response, the need to take local knowledge and context into account, and the importance of financial support. These patterns suggest that while no single outreach approach or policy is likely to be effective everywhere or for everyone, efforts that facilitate development of relationships, within communities and between community members and fire personnel, can contribute to increased preparedness at the individual and community level by facilitating information exchange and helping to build a sense of community.

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Section: Experiencing and Recovering From A Wildfirementioning

confidence: 99%

Community Wildfire Preparedness: a Global State-of-the-Knowledge Summary of Social Science Research

McCaffrey

2015

Curr Forestry Rep

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158

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“…As a result, interest in understanding the different choices individuals make when threatened by a wildfire has grown. In the United States, there is interest in understanding why some do not follow mandatory wildfire evacuation orders and whether alternatives to mass evacuation could be a viable option and under what conditions . In other countries, particularly Australia, where households have the overt choice to stay and defend their property or to evacuate, a key interest is in understanding those who wait to assess the actual conditions before making a decision.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Should I Stay or Should I Go Now? Or Should I Wait and See? Influences on Wildfire Evacuation Decisions

2017

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As climate change has contributed to longer fire seasons and populations living in fire-prone ecosystems increase, wildfires have begun to affect a growing number of people. As a result, interest in understanding the wildfire evacuation decision process has increased. Of particular interest is understanding why some people leave early, some choose to stay and defend their homes, and others wait to assess conditions before making a final decision. Individuals who tend to wait and see are of particular concern given the dangers of late evacuation. To understand what factors might influence different decisions, we surveyed homeowners in three areas in the United States that recently experienced a wildfire. The Protective Action Decision Model was used to identify a suite of factors previously identified as potentially relevant to evacuation decisions. Our results indicate that different beliefs about the efficacy of a particular response or action (evacuating or staying to defend), differences in risk attitudes, and emphasis on different cues to act (e.g., official warnings, environmental cues) are key factors underlying different responses. Further, latent class analysis indicates there are two general classes of individuals: those inclined to evacuate and those inclined to stay, and that a substantial portion of each class falls into the wait and see category.

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“…This approach is notably different from those adopted elsewhere, such as controlled evacuations in the United States (MacDougall, Gibbs, and Clark, 2014;McCaffrey, Rhodes, and Stidham, 2014). The options presented under the 'stay or go' model bring the issue of decision-making to the fore.…”

Section: Background and Contextmentioning

confidence: 98%

Gender, households, and decision‐making for wildfire safety

Tyler

Fairbrother

2018

Disasters

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This paper considers the impact of gendered norms on decision-making for wildfire preparation and response at the household level. Focusing on Australia, it provides a theoretical thematic analysis of data acquired in 107 interviews with residents of nine different localities. It builds on existing research on gender and disaster, as well as on decision-making and wildfires, and analyses the narratives that centre on 'split' households plans (where a male partner plans to stay and a female partner plans to evacuate) and disagreements within heterosexual couples as to an appropriate wildfire safety plan. The study finds that gender inequality and differences in gendered expectations are likely to create difficult conditions for negotiation between members of a heterosexual couple when there is disagreement over a plan and that this may contribute to risky decision-making practices and outcomes. The paper reiterates, therefore, the importance of taking into account the social construction of gender in wildfire research and policy.

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Wildfire evacuation and its alternatives: perspectives from four United States’ communities

Cited by 67 publications

References 23 publications

Community Wildfire Preparedness: a Global State-of-the-Knowledge Summary of Social Science Research

Community Wildfire Preparedness: a Global State-of-the-Knowledge Summary of Social Science Research

Should I Stay or Should I Go Now? Or Should I Wait and See? Influences on Wildfire Evacuation Decisions

Gender, households, and decision‐making for wildfire safety

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