Building more resilient communities with a wildfire preparedness drill in the U.S.: Individual and community influences and communication practices

• Published in: Journal of contingencies and crisis management Vol. 31; no. 1; pp. 26 - 38
• Main Authors: Stephens, Keri K., Powers, Courtney J., Robertson, Brett W., Spearing, Lauryn A., Collier, John C., Tich, Kendall P., Smith, William R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-03-2023
• Subjects: Case studies; Communication; Community involvement; community resilience; disaster preparedness; Efficacy; Evacuation; Forest & brush fires; Neighborhoods; Resilience; Sensemaking; Social norms; Strikes; text‐message alerts; wildfire drill; United States > US
• ISSN: 0966-0879; 1468-5973
• DOI: 10.1111/1468-5973.12402

When a wildfire strikes, it impacts entire communities. Yet it can be challenging to get communities to take the lead in becoming more prepared, and thus build lasting resilience. Guided by theoretical preparedness models, and using a case study design, this study examines the planning, execution, and subsequent sensemaking around one of the first community‐led wildfire evacuation drills in the United States. Findings illustrate the interplay between individual preparedness, communication, and community involvement as the neighbourhood studied conducted their drill in partnership with multiple emergency response organizations. Our model explains 39% of the variance in individuals' preparedness, finding that people with higher self‐efficacy, more involved with the community, and who felt strong social norms around preparedness had more items prepared for a wildfire. The community's desire to share the preparedness organizing process with external audiences is a unique and important contribution in understanding how communication can be used to sustain community resilience.