Community wildfire preparedness: A global state-of-the-knowledge summary of social science research

Current Forestry Reports

Volumn 1, Issue 2, 2015, Pages 81-90

  McCaffrey, Sarah ^a  

^a NORTH CENTRAL RESEARCH STATION   (United States)

Author keywords

Communication; Evacuation; Mitigation; Preparedness; Risk perception; Social interactions

Indexed keywords

EID: 85006725435     PISSN: None     EISSN: 21986436     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s40725-015-0015-7     Document Type: Article

References (99)

1. Toman E., M.S. Stidham, McCaffrey BS. Social science at the wildland urban interface: a compendium of research results to create fire-adapted communities. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-111. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 2013. 75 pp. http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/gtr/gtr_nrs111.pdf.
2. McCaffrey S, Toman E, Stidham M, Shindler B. Social science research related to wildfire management: an overview of recent findings and future research needs. Int JWildl Fire. 2013;22:15–24.
3. McCaffrey SM, Olsen CS. Research perspectives on the public and fire management: a synthesis of current social science on eight essential questions. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 2012. 40 pp. http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/gtr/gtr_nrs104.pdf.
4. Absher JD, Vaske JJ. The role of trust in residents’ fire wise actions. Int J Wildl Fire. 2011;20:318.
5. Bihari M, Ryan R. Influence of social capital on community preparedness for wildfires. Landsc Urban Plan. 2012;106(3): 253–61.
6. Brenkert-Smith H. Homeowners’ perspectives on the parcel approach to wildland fire mitigation: the role of community context in two Colorado communities. J For. 2011;109(4):193–200.
7. Collins TW. Spatial scale and hazard perception: an exploratory analysis. Soc Nat Resour. 2012;25(11):1134–51.
8. Kanclerz L, DeChano-Cook LM. Understanding wildfire vulnerability of residents in Teton CountyWyoming. Disaster Prev Manag. 2013;22(2):104–18.
9. Brenkert-Smith H, Champ PA, Flores N. Trying not to get burned: understanding homeowners’ wildfire risk-mitigation behaviors. Environ Manage. 2012;50(6):1139–51.
10. McFarlane BL, McGee TK, Faulkner H. Complexity of homeowner wildfire risk mitigation: an integration of hazard theories. Int J Wildl Fire. 2011;20:921.
11. Wyman M, Malone S, Stein T, Johnson C. Race and wildfire risk perceptions among rural forestland owners in North-Central Florida. Soc Nat Resour. 2012;25(March 2014):1293–307.
12. Fischer AP. Identifying policy target groups with qualitative and quantitative methods: the case of wildfire risk on nonindustrial private forest lands. For Policy Econ. 2012;25:62–71.
13. McNeill IM, Dunlop PD, Heath JB, Skinner TC, Morrison DL. Expecting the unexpected: predicting physiological and psychological wildfire preparedness from perceived risk, responsibility, and obstacles. Risk Anal. 2013;33(10):1829–43.
14. Prior T, Eriksen C. Wildfire preparedness, community cohesion and social-ecological systems. Glob Environ Chang. 2013;23(6):1575–86.
15. Ascher TJ, Wilson RS, Toman E. The importance of affect, perceived risk and perceived benefit in understanding support for fuels management among wildland-urban interface residents. Int J Wildl Fire. 2013;22:267.
16. Shindler B, Gordon R, Brunson MW, Olsen C. Public perceptions of sagebrush ecosystem management in the Great Basin. Rangel Ecol Manag. 2011;64(4):335–43.
17. Toman E, Stidham M, Shindler B, McCaffrey S. Reducing fuels in the wildland urban interface: community perceptions of agency fuels treatments. Int J Wildl Fire. 2011;20:340–9.
18. Paveglio TB, Carroll MS, Absher J, Robinson W. Symbolic meanings of wildland fire: a study of residents in the U.S. inland northwest. Soc Nat Resour. 2011;24(1):18–33.
19. Ryan RL. The influence of landscape preference and environmental education on public attitudes toward wildfire management in the northeast pine barrens (USA). Landsc Urban Plan. 2012;107(1):55–68.
20. Toman E, Shindler B, McCaffrey S, Bennett J. Public acceptance of wildland fire and fuel management: panel responses in seven locations. Environ Manage. 2014;54(3):557–70.
21. Ballard HL, Evans E, Sturtevant VE, Jakes P. The evolution of Smokey Bear: environmental education about wildfire for youth. J Environ Educ. 2012;43(4):227–40.
22. Brenkert-Smith H, Dickinson KL, Champ PA, Flores N. Social amplification of wildfire risk: the role of social interactions and information sources. Risk Anal. 2013;33(5):800–17.
23. Christianson A, McGee T, Jardine C. Canadian wildfire communication strategies. Aust J Emerg Manag. 2011;26(3):40–51.
24. Eriksen C, Prior T. The art of learning: wildfire, amenity migration and local environmental knowledge. Int J Wildl Fire. 2011;20:612.
25. Olsen CS, Mazzotta DK, Toman E, Fischer AP. Communicating about smoke from wildland fire: challenges and opportunities for managers. Environ Manage. 2014;54(3):571–82.
26. McCaffrey S, Velez AL, Briefel JA. Difference in information needs for wildfire evacuees and non-evacuees. Int J Mass Emerg Disasters. 2013;31(1):4–24.
27. Reid K, Beilin R.Where’s the fire? Co-constructing bushfire in the everyday landscape. Soc Nat Resour. 2013;27(2):140–54.
28. Steelman TA, McCaffrey S. Best practices in risk and crisis communication: implications for natural hazards management. Nat Hazards. 2012;65:683–705.
29. Steelman TA, McCaffrey SM, Velez A-LK, Briefel JA. What information do people use, trust, and find useful during a disaster? Evidence from five large wildfires. Nat Hazards. 2014;76:615–34.
30. Strawderman L, Salehi A, Babski-Reeves K, Thornton-Neaves T, Cosby A. Reverse 911 as a complementary evacuation warning system. Nat Hazards Rev. 2012;13(1):65–73.
31. Sugerman DE, Keir JM, Dee DL, et al. Emergency health risk communication during the 2007 San Diego wildfires: comprehension, compliance, and recall. J Health Commun. 2012;17(6):698–712.
32. Sutton J, Spiro ES, Johnson B, Fitzhugh S, Gibson B, Butts CT. Warning tweets: serial transmission of messages during the warning phase of a disaster event. Inf Commun Soc. 2014;17(6):765–87.
33. Christianson A, Mcgee TK, L’Hirondelle L. The influence of culture on wildfire mitigation at Peavine Métis settlement, Alberta. Can Soc Nat Resour. 2014;27(9):931–47.
34. Everett Y, Fuller M. Fire Safe Councils in the interface. Soc Nat Resour. 2011;24(4):319–33.
35. Fairbrother P, Tyler M, Hart A, et al. Creating “community”? Preparing for bushfire in rural Victoria. Rural Sociol. 2013;78(2): 186–209.
36. Frandsen M, Paton D, Sakariassen K. Fostering community bushfire preparedness through engagement and empowerment. Aust J Emerg Manag. 2011;26(2):23–30.
37. McCaffrey SM, Stidham M, Toman E, Shindler B. Outreach programs, peer pressure, and common sense: what motivates homeowners to mitigate wildfire risk? Environ Manage. 2011;48(3):475–88.
38. McGee TK. Public engagement in neighbourhood level wildfire mitigation and preparedness: case studies from Canada, the US and Australia. J Environ Manage. 2011;92(10):2524–32.
39. Harris LM, McGee TK, McFarlane BL. Implementation of wildfire risk management by local governments in Alberta. Can J Environ Plan Manag. 2011;54(4):457–75.
40. MacDougall C, Gibbs L, Clark R. Community-based preparedness programmes and the 2009 Australian bushfires: policy implications derived from applying theory. Disasters. 2014;38(2):249–66.
41. Muller B, Schulte S. Governing wildfire risks: what shapes county hazard mitigation programs? J Plan Educ Res. 2011;31(1):60–73.
42. Ojerio R, Moseley C, Lynn K, Bania N. Limited involvement of socially vulnerable populations in federal programs to mitigate wildfire risk in Arizona. Nat Hazards Rev. 2011;12(1):28–36.
43. Stidham M, McCaffrey S, Toman E, Shindler B. Policy tools to encourage community-level defensible space in the United States: a tale of six communities. J Rural Stud. 2014;35:59–69.
44. Beverly JL, Bothwell P. Wildfire evacuations in Canada 1980–2007. Nat Hazards. 2011;59:571–96.
45. Cote DW, McGee TK. An exploration of residents’ intended wildfire evacuation responses inMt. Lorne, Yukon, Canada. For Chron. 2014;90:498–502.
46. McCaffrey S, Rhodes AS. Wildfire evacuation and its alternatives: perspectives from four United States’ communities. Int JWildl Fire. 2014;24:170–8.
47. Paveglio T, Prato T, Dalenberg D, Venn T. Understanding evacuation preferences and wildfire mitigations among Northwest Montana residents. Int J Wildl Fire. 2014;23:435.
48. Davis EJ, Moseley C, Nielsen-Pincus M, Jakes PJ. The community economic impacts of large wildfires: a case study from Trinity County. Calif Soc Nat Resour. 2014;27(9):983–93.
49. Nawrotzki RJ, Brenkert-Smith H, Hunter LM, Champ PA. Wildfire-migration dynamics: lessons from Colorado’s Fourmile Canyon fire. Soc Nat Resour. 2014;27(2):215–25.
50. Carroll MS, Paveglio T, Jakes PJ, Higgins LL. Nontribal community recovery from wildfire five years later: the case of the Rodeo–Chediski fire. Soc Nat Resour. 2011;24(7):672–87.
51. Cox RS, Perry K-ME. Like a fish out of water: reconsidering disaster recovery and the role of place and social capital in community disaster resilience. Am J Community Psychol. 2011;48(3–4):395–411.
52. Jakes PJ, Langer ER. The adaptive capacity of New Zealand communities to wildfire. Int J Wildl Fire. 2012;21:764.
53. Jakes PJ, Sturtevant V. “Trial by fire: Community Wildfire Protection Plans put to the test.” Int J Wildl Fire. 2013;22:1134.
54. Kulig J, Townshend I, Edge D, Reimer W, Lightfoot N. Impacts of wildfires: aftermath at individual and community levels? Aust J Emerg Manag. 2013;28(3):29–34.
55. Reimer B, Kulig J, Edge D, Lightfoot N, Townshend I. The lost creek fire: managing social relations under disaster conditions. Disasters. 2013;37(2):317–32.
56. Steelman TA, McCaffrey SM. What is limiting more flexible fire management-public or agency pressure? J For. 2011;109(8):454–61.
57. Whittaker J, Handmer J, Mercer D. Vulnerability to bushfires in rural Australia: a case study from East Gippsland. Victoria J Rural Stud. 2012;28(2):161–73.
58. Mannakkara S, Wilkinson S. Build back better principles for economic recovery: case study of the Victorian bushfires. J Bus Contin Emer Plan. 2012;6(2):164–73.
59. McLennan BJ, Handmer J. Reframing responsibility-sharing for bushfire risk management in Australia after Black Saturday. Environ Hazards. 2012;11(1):1–15.
60. O’Neill SJ, Handmer J. “Responding to bushfire risk: the need for transformative adaptation.” Environ Res Lett. 2012;7:14018–14024.
61. Webber R, Jones K. Rebuilding communities after natural disasters: the 2009 bushfires in southeastern Australia. J Soc Serv Res. 2013;39(2):253–68.
62. Webber R, Jones K. After the bushfires: surviving and volunteering. Aust J Emerg Manag. 2011;26(2):33–8.
63. Hickson H, Lehmann J. Exploring social workers’ experiences of working with bushfire-affected families. Aust Soc Work. 2013;67(2):256–73.
64. McLennan J, Elliott G, Omodei M, Whittaker J. Householders’ safety-related decisions, plans, actions and outcomes during the 7 February 2009 Victorian (Australia) wildfires. Fire Saf J. 2013;61: 175–84.
65. McLennan J, Paton D, Beatson R. Psychological differences between south-eastern Australian householders’ who intend to leave if threatened by a wildfire and those who intend to stay and defend. Int J Disaster Risk Reduct. 2015;11:35–46.
66. McLennan J, Cowlishaw S, Paton D, Beatson R, Elliott G. Predictors of south-eastern Australian householders’ strengths of intentions to self-evacuate if a wildfire threatens: two theoretical models. Int J Wildl Fire. 2014;23:1176.
67. McLennan J, Paton D, Wright L. At-risk householders’ responses to potential and actual bushfire threat: an analysis of findings from seven Australian post-bushfire interview studies 2009–2014. Int J Disaster Risk Reduct. 2015.
68. McNeill IM, Dunlop PD, Morrison DLST. Predicting delay in residents’ decision on defending versus evacuating through antecedents of decision avoidance. Int J Wildl Fire. 2014;24:153–61.
69. Whittaker J, Haynes K, Handmer J, McLennan J. Community safety during the 2009 Australian “Black Saturday” bushfires: an analysis of household preparedness and response. Int J Wildl Fire. 2013;22:841.
70. Eriksen C, Hankins DL. The retention, revival, and subjugation of indigenous fire knowledge through agency fire fighting in eastern Australia and California. Soc Nat Resour. 2014;27(12):1288–303.
71. Ray L. Using Q-methodology to identify local perspectives on wildfires in two Koyukon athabascan communities in rural Alaska. Sustain Sci Pract Policy. 2011;7(2):18–29.
72. Altangerel K, Kull CA. The prescribed burning debate in Australia: conflicts and compatibilities. J Environ Plan Manag. 2013;56(1): 103–20.
73. Champ JG, Brooks JJ, Williams DR. Stakeholder understandings of wildfire mitigation: a case of shared and contested meanings. Environ Manage. 2012;50(4):581–97.
74. Goemans M, Ballamingie P. Forest as hazard, forest as victim: community perspectives and disaster mitigation in the aftermath of Kelowna’s 2003 wildfires. Can Geogr/Le Géographe Can. 2013;57(1):56–71.
75. Hidalgo MG, Armengol IO, Kallis G. Más allá del humo. La ecología política de los incendios forestales a partir del caso de Horta de Sant Joan (Tarragona, Cataluña). Doc Analisi Geogr. 2013;59(1):21–50.
76. Paveglio T, Norton T, Carroll MS. Fanning the flames? Media coverage during wildfire events and its relation to broader societal understandings of the hazard. Hum Ecol Rev. 2011;18(1):41–52.
77. Afifi WA, Felix ED, Afifi TD. The impact of uncertainty and communal coping on mental health following natural disasters. Anxiety Stress Coping. 2012;25(3):329–47.
78. Papadatou D, Giannopoulou I, Bitsakou P, Bellali T, Talias MA, Tselepi K. Adolescents’ reactions after a wildfire disaster in Greece. J Trauma Stress. 2012;25(1):57–63.
79. Pujadas Botey A, Kulig JC. Family functioning followingwildfires: recovering from the 2011 Slave Lake Fires. J Child Fam Stud. 2013;23(8):1471–83.
80. Reifels L, Bassilios B, Spittal M, King K, Fletcher J, Pirkis J. Patterns and predictors of primary mental health service use following bushfire and flood disasters. Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2014;5(1)
81. Kochi I, Champ PA, Loomis JB, Donovan GH. Valuing mortality impacts of smoke exposure from major southern California wildfires. J For Econ. 2012;18(1):61–75.
82. Miller PA, Roberts NA, Zamora AD, et al. Families coping with natural disasters: lessons from wildfires and tornados. Qual Res Psychol. 2012;9(4):314–36.
83. Buxton M, Haynes R, Mercer D, Butt A. Vulnerability to bushfire risk at Melbourne’s urban fringe: the failure of regulatory land use planning. Geogr Res. 2011;49(1):1–12.
84. Bond T, Mercer D. Subdivision policy and planning for bushfire defence: a natural hazard mitigation strategy for residential periurban regions in Victoria. Aust Geogr Res. 2014;52(1):6–22.
85. Eriksen C. Gendered risk engagement: challenging the embedded vulnerability, social norms and power relations in conventional Australian bushfire education. Geogr Res. 2014;52(1):23–33.
86. Tyler M, Fairbrother P. Bushfires are “men’s business”: the importance of gender and rural hegemonic masculinity. J Rural Stud. 2013;30:110–9.
87. Olsen CS, Sharp E. Building community-agency trust in fireaffected communities in Australia and the United States. Int J Wildl Fire. 2013;22:822.
88. Dunlop PD, McNeill IM, Boylan JL, Morrison DL, Skinner TC. Preparing…for what? Developing multi-dimensional measures of community wildfire preparedness for researchers, practitioners and households. Int J Wildl Fire. 2014;23(6):887.
89. Eriksen C, Prior T.Defining the importance of mental preparedness for risk communication and residents well-prepared for wildfire. Int J Disaster Risk Reduct. 2013;6:87–97. doi:10.1016/j.ijdrr.2013.09.006.
90. Champ PA, Donovan GH, Barth CM. Living in a tinderbox: wildfire risk perceptions and mitigating behaviours. Int J Wildl Fire. 2013;22:832.
91. Slovic P. Perception of risk. Science. 1987;236(4799):280–5.
92. Fischer AP, Charnley S. Risk and cooperation: managing hazardous fuel in mixed ownership landscapes. Environ Manage. 2012;49(6): 1192–207.
93. Lachapelle PR, McCool SF. The role of trust in community wildland fire protection planning. Soc Nat Resour. 2012;25(4):321–35.
94. Sharp EA, Thwaites R, Curtis A, Millar J. Factors affecting community-agency trust before, during and after a wildfire: an Australian case study. J Environ Manage. 2013;130:10–9.
95. Gordon JS, Gruver JB, Flint CG, Luloff AE. Perceptions of wildfire and landscape change in the Kenai Peninsula. Alaska Environ Manage. 2013;52(4):807–20.
96. Anton CE, Lawrence C. Home is where the heart is: the effect of place of residence on place attachment and community participation. J Environ Psychol. 2014;40:451–61.
97. Fischer AP. Reducing hazardous fuels on nonindustrial private forests: factors influencing landowner decisions. J For. 2011;109(5): 260–6.
98. Meldrum JR, Champ PA, Warziniack T, Brenkert-Smith H, Barth CM, Falk LC. Cost shared wildfire risk mitigation in Log HillMesa Colorado: survey evidence on participation and willingness to pay. Int J Wildl Fire. 2014;23:567.
99. Shindler B., Olsen, C., McCaffrey S., McFarlane B., Christianson A., McGee, T., Curtis A., Sharp E. Trust: a planning guide for wildfire agencies and practit ioners—an International Collaboration Drawing on Research and Management Experience in Australia, Canada, and the United States. A Joint Fire Science Program Research Publication. Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR.; 2014. http://cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/pubwarehouse/pdfs/35399.pdf.