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Fires in California: Learning from the Australian experience The situation in California has shown that as populations grow and climatic shifts cause fire conditions to worsen, authorities, emergency managers and researchers need to think about the best way to deal with this problem. Evacuating 500,000 people might seem like the least risk option, but it introduces additional costs and dangers that cannot be borne by the public and authorities with such regularity or on such a large scale. Already, a number of deaths have occurred during the evacuations in California and, while it will be argued that much higher losses would have been experienced had the people not been evacuated, the question of whether this is a sustainable long-term strategy remains. Fire crews are spending valuable time and resources helping people move to safety. This not only exposes people to danger from the fires as they attempt to make their way to apparent safety, but with such large numbers of people on the move and in need of food and shelter, it also has the potential to create a humanitarian crisis. Research in Australia has shown that a common cause of civilian death and injury is the last-minute evacuation of buildings as the fire front arrives. As people flee their homes, many are overcome by the heat and smoke. Those who try to escape by car run the risk of crashing, getting stuck or driving into even greater danger. The Australian research supports moves towards more self-sufficient communities during bushfires. A heavy reliance on the emergency services stops them from doing their job and makes the public more vulnerable to hazards. Making people more responsible for their own safety can have huge dividends to the overall success of emergency management. In addition, by empowering communities to at least take an interest in their safety and survival, properties will be saved and fewer people will be required to seek temporary shelter elsewhere. The weight of evidence from social science and disaster research leads us to believe that the authorities need to include the public in risk-reduction strategies rather than relying upon overwhelmed emergency services alone. As the frequency and scale of wildland fires continues to increase, we would like to see the public playing more of an integral part in fire management. -------------
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