Beyond early self-evacuation from bushfires: factors influencing non-evacuation of at-risk communities

Abstract

Bushfire is a devastating natural hazard. Contrary to bushfire policy on catastrophic fires, some householders prefer to stay and defend their properties. In addition, more frequent destructive events have been predicted because of climate change. To date, little attention has been paid to factors concerning why householders decide not to evacuate, especially for at-risk communities. Recent bushfire fatalities underscore the need to understand the factors influencing decision-making among residents in at-risk communities. This study addresses this imperative by identifying factors through a systematic literature review. Out of 142 articles extracted from the Web of Science and Scopus databases between 1999 – 2020, 32 were found relevant. Based on the rationalism classification of knowledge in psychology, these were categorized into information, social, protection, and operational factors. The factors may inform further studies involving predictors of residents’ non-evacuation from bushfire hazards. In addition, the significant factors can be leveraged towards early self-evacuation, which could reduce bushfire fatalities and mental health impacts among the residents.