No one wants to lose their home in a wildfire. But what pushes people to act beforehand to protect their property — to cut down overgrown shrubs around decks, prune low-hanging tree branches or clear dead leaves from gutters?
A study of homeowners in Deschutes County, Oregon, published this month in the Journal of Environmental Management, found that people with an “egalitarian” outlook — those more likely to express concern about the environment and their communities — tend to take more wildfire preparedness measures than others. “Fatalists” — those who feel risk is unpredictable and resources are limited — take the fewest precautions.
Study author Erika Allen Wolters, an assistant professor of political science at Oregon State University, said the results highlight the influence of an individual’s worldview on their response to risk. “I’m always curious about the human perspective,” she said. “How we think about risk, how we mitigate it, whether we mitigate it, the ways we bypass thinking about it or doing anything.”
The study surveyed about 450 homeowners who live in areas where development and forests overlap. Survey respondents were asked for their thoughts on the role of individuals in society, as well as about the measures they’d taken to protect their homes. They were specifically asked about their adoption of the Firewise USA program recommendations, created by the U.S. Forest Service and the National Fire Protection Agency to help communities reduce wildfire risk. Among other measures, Firewise recommends that homeowners plant fire-resistant vegetation, prepare evacuation plans, and use nonflammable building materials. Prepared properties contribute to a less flammable neighborhood.
While most respondents expressed concern about wildfire risk, their willingness to minimize it depended on their previous experience with wildfire, their proximity to forests or rangelands, and the existence of local land-use rules, such as building codes or homeowners’ association requirements. Young homeowners and women were also more likely to act.
Other factors not included in the study — such as physical mobility and socioeconomic status — can also be barriers to wildfire preparedness. So can politics: In the summer of 2022, a wildfire risk map issued by the state of Oregon prompted outrage among those who saw it as a costly attack on private property and symbolic of government overreach. The map was rescinded, and proposed revisions have been further delayed. Building-code updates for high and extreme risk areas won’t go into effect until the map controversy is resolved.
“I’m always curious about the human perspective… How we think about risk, how we mitigate it, whether we mitigate it, the ways we bypass thinking about it or doing anything.”
Bob Horton, director of the Western Fire Chiefs Association, said that “many” properties he sees in Oregon’s Jackson County, where he used to be a district fire chief, aren’t ready to withstand a wildfire. He suspects that conventional motivational strategies — brochures, education, tents at events — aren’t enough to prompt widespread action. This study, he said, “is really helping better inform and drive practitioners like myself toward a better understanding of the human experience.”
The new study recommends that fire safety officials deliver a variety of messages about fire preparedness. “Whatever you’re trying to do, it needs to be salient for people,” Allen Wolters said. Egalitarians might be motivated by the idea of helping their communities, while individualists may respond better to market-based incentives or approaches that prioritize autonomy. “This is why humans are so complex,” Allen Wolters said. “Appealing to one might not appeal to another.”
With spring in the Western U.S. arriving sooner and becoming hotter and drier, local restrictions on brush-pile burning and the use of mechanical thinning equipment are coming into force earlier in the year. “There are six to eight weeks less time homeowners have to prepare properties than we had just five years ago,” Horton said. As the annual window of opportunity narrows, it becomes even more urgent to motivate people to prepare for the possibility of flames.
Kylie Mohr is an editorial fellow for High Country News writing from Montana. Email her at kylie.mohr@hcn.org or submit a letter to the editor. See our letters to the editor policy.
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