Public engagement in neighbourhood level wildfire mitigation and preparedness: Case studies from Canada, the US and Australia

McGee, Tara K.

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2011.05.017

Cited by 92 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…At a general level, government is the preferred source of information on fire issues (Jarrett et al 2009, McGee 2011, Ostergren et al 2006, Weisshaupt et al 2007). This preference is consistent with perceptions that public education about fire risk and mitigation is in part the government's responsibility (see Responsibility discussion).…”

Section: Information Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many studies have found a preference for one-on-one interactions as well as indications that personal relationships with agency personnel can be important in making judgments about information and actions (Jarrett et al 2009, McCaffrey 2004, McFarlane et al 2007, McGee 2011, Parkinson et al 2003, Paveglio et al 2009, Toman et al 2008, Winter and Cvetkovich 2010. For instance, McCaffrey (2004) found that having government or personal contacts was associated with lower concern about potential prescribed fire issues, including aesthetics, escape, and damage to trees, and with the perception that use of heavy equipment and herbicide application were more acceptable practices.…”

Section: Interactive Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies have shown that increased agency-community interaction led to more positive feelings toward the agency (McGee 2011, Paveglio et al 2009, Ryan and Hamin 2008. Conversely, Kumagai et al (2004) found that after a fire those who either lived in a community that had little interaction with the state fire agency or did not receive up-to-date information during the fire were more critical of fire management.…”

Section: Interactive Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Research perspectives on the public and fire management: a synthesis of current social science on eight essential questions

McCaffrey¹,

Olsen²

2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

As part of a Joint Fire Science Program project, a team of social scientists reviewed existing fire social science literature to develop a targeted synthesis of scientific knowledge on the following questions: 1. What is the public's understanding of fire's role in the ecosystem? 2. Who are trusted sources of information about fire? 3. What are the public's views of fuels reduction methods, and how do those views vary depending on citizens' location in the wildland-urban interface or elsewhere? 4. What is the public's understanding of smoke effects on human health, and what shapes the public's tolerance for smoke? 5. What are homeowners' views of their responsibilities for home and property protection and mitigation, e.g., defensible space measures? 6. What role does human health and safety play in the public's perceptions of fire and fire management? 7. What are the public's views on the role and importance of costs in wildfire incident response decisions? 8. To the extent that information is available, how do findings differ among ethnic and cultural groups, and across regions of the country?Despite limited fire research specific to the questions on costs, and human health and safety, common findings on all these interrelated topics are summarized in this document. Research has found that the public has a fairly sophisticated understanding of fire's ecological role and the environmental factors that can increase fire risk. The public obtains information on fire from a wide variety of sources, but findings consistently show that interactive information sources are both generally preferred and more effective than unidirectional sources. As a way to improve ecosystem health and reduce fire risk, active land management generally has greater citizen support than a no-action alternative. Most respondents accept the practice of prescribed fire for active forest management and tolerate the accompanying smoke; in contrast, smoke is a highly salient issue for households with health concerns. The public tends to see mitigating the fire risk as a shared responsibility with landowners, whether public or private, responsible for taking appropriate action on their own property. Cost figures in to citizens' decisionmaking about actions to protect property before a wildfire but may be less of a priority during incident response. Except for ethnicity or race, little evidence was found of meaningful variation in public response to fire management based on socio-demographic characteristics or geographic variation.

show abstract

Section: Information Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Interactive Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Interactive Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Research perspectives on the public and fire management: a synthesis of current social science on eight essential questions

McCaffrey¹,

Olsen²

2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Unlike in other parts of the world such as Canada where lightning is the major cause of ignition (18), in the study area, ignition of fires is predominantly anthropogenic -stems from use of fires for clearing agricultural land, hunting, warding off animals from crop fields and removing underbrush to improve pasture [18,19]. The seasonal climate (high temperature, high velocity winds and low humidity), seasonal supply of dry biomass (grass and leaf litter) as fuel and terrain conditions (slope and aspect) promote the spread of runaway fires [20][21][22]. Although climatic conditions are generally uniform in the district (7), terrain conditions, human activities and the capacity to tackle the fires differ from one part of the district or tenure system to another.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determination of Veld Fire Hazard Zones in Multiple Tenure Systems in Zimbabwe: Implications for Intervention

Maponga¹,

Ahmed²,

Manatsa³

2017

eer

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The study determined fire hazard zones in multiple tenure systems from 2001 to 2013 in Mazowe district, Zimbabwe, using Landsat 7 and 8 30m resolution images, a fire hazard model and weighted sum of burnt area. The model divided the district into high, moderate and low fire hazard zones across five tenure systems that obtain. Most of the district (50%) was in the high hazard zone. Fire events superimposed onto the zones confirmed that most of the fire events (60%) occurred in the high hazard zone. The weighted sum of burnt area revealed that 47% of the study area was not burnt. The level of fire risk in terms of pasture per livestock unit was substantially high. At 1% of land burnt four times in A2 and Communal systems involved losses of 2784 and 1682 livestock units' worth of pasture respectively. The hazard zones show hotspots needing monitoring, fire problem occurring irrespective of tenure and that the problem could be addressed. The study recommends setting up a fire command centre, involving all parties, urgent attention to the fire problem across tenure and adoption practices such as law enforcement, hierarchical structures and participation of grassroots communities in addressing the fire problem.

show abstract

“…Several studies in Canada, the United States and Australia indicate that many homeowners have undertaken a variety of mitigation actions that contribute to reducing the wildfire risk to their properties (e.g., McGee and Russell 2003, McGee 2005, Nelson et al 2005, Brenkert-Smith et al 2006, Faulkner et al 2009, McCaffrey et al 2011, McGee 2011. Low-cost, low-effort actions such as watering and mowing lawns, cleaning gutters and moving woodpiles tend to be the most popular.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wildfire risk mitigation and recreational property owners in Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park-Alberta

PriceLouis

McFarlaneBonita

LantzVan

2016

The Forestry Chronicle

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Recreational property (cottage) owners represent a growing segment of population living at the wildland-urban interface. Land managers may find it particularly difficult to engage these landowners in wildfire management initiatives. This paper examines support for wildfire management, perceived wildfire risk and wildfire mitigation actions among cottage owners in Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park-Alberta. Data were collected from 165 cottage owners using a mail survey. Results showed that these owners had a high level of support for fuel reductions on the landscape and a high level of interest in participating in a cooperative wildfire mitigation program; they had taken action to reduce their risk. However, they seemed reluctant to do substantial tree pruning, or to install fire-resistant siding or screen eaves, decks and vents. Results found that perceived risk was not correlated with mitigation action. Awareness, perceived effectiveness of firefighters, days spent at the cottage and value of the cottage were correlated positively with mitigation action, whereas perceived efficacy, aesthetic effects and cost of mitigation were correlated negatively. These findings suggest that mitigation programs for cottage owners may be effective by providing public education on the efficacy of mitigation, lessening the effects of impediments such as cost, and alleviating concerns about aesthetics.Keywords: cottage owners, recreational property, mitigation, vegetation management, natural hazard, risk perception, wildland-urban interface, wildfire, FireSmart® RÉSUMÉ Les propriétaires de site de villégiature (chalet) constituent un segment de plus en plus important de la population vivant en milieu périurbain. Les aménagistes du territoire considèrent qu'il est particulièrement difficile de faire participer ces propriétaires aux projets de gestion des feux de forêt. Cet article porte sur l'aide accordée pour la gestion des feux de forêt, sur la perception du risque de feu et sur les mesures d'atténuation des feux chez les propriétaires de chalet du parc interprovincial de Cypress Hill en Alberta. Les données ont été recueillies auprès de 165 propriétaires de chalet au moyen d'un sondage postal. Les résultats indiquent que ces propriétaires appuyaient fortement la réduction de la quantité de matériau combustible à l' échelle du paysage, tout en démontrant de l'intérêt à participer à un programme coopératif d'atténuation des feux de forêt; ils avaient pris des mesures pour réduire le risque chez eux. Toutefois, ils se sont montrés peu enclins à effectuer des élagages substantiels ou à installer des revêtements résistants au feu ou des écrans protecteurs pour les avanttoits, les terrasses et les évents. On a pu constater que la perception du risque n'allait pas de pair avec les gestes d'atténua-tion. La sensibilisation, la confiance dans l' efficacité des pompiers, le nombre de jours passés au chalet et la valeur du chalet montraient une corrélation positive avec les mesures d'atténuation, tandis que l' efficacité, les co...

show abstract

Public engagement in neighbourhood level wildfire mitigation and preparedness: Case studies from Canada, the US and Australia

Cited by 92 publications

References 19 publications

Research perspectives on the public and fire management: a synthesis of current social science on eight essential questions

Research perspectives on the public and fire management: a synthesis of current social science on eight essential questions

Determination of Veld Fire Hazard Zones in Multiple Tenure Systems in Zimbabwe: Implications for Intervention

Wildfire risk mitigation and recreational property owners in Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park-Alberta

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About