Quantification of Fire Resilience in Urban Communities: Evidence from the City of Novi Pazar, Serbia

Abstract

Large-scale fires in densely populated urban areas impose long-term consequences to different community levels. The main purpose of the presented cross-sectional research is to describe relations between demographic, socio-economic, organizational, infrastructural, psychological factors and citizens' resilience to fire incidents. The city representing the chosen case study has recorded severe fires in residential buildings with civilian fatalities, injuries and extensive material damage. The researcher applied linear regressions, correlations and binary logistic regressions in order to prove hypotheses. The research results have confirmed general and special hypotheses used in previous disaster management studies related to other types of hazards in urban communities. New perspectives have been opened for further consideration of social capital and the strength of religious faith in terms of citizen fire resilience. The specificity of this multicultural community-based research is reflected in the selective sampling of respondents who provided answers to significant and broad spectrum aspects of resilience, including pre-fire, immediate and post-fire phases of incidents.