Working with neighborhood organizations to promote wildfire preparedness

Abstract

Several government agencies and other natural resource managers have instituted outreach programs to promote wildfire preparedness in wildland-urban interface (WUI) neighborhoods that complement community-wide efforts. To help these programs become more effective, research was undertaken to gain a better understanding of the role that neighbors and neighborhood organizations play in assisting people to reduce their wildfire risk. Research was conducted in six U.S. communities where State forestry agencies or fire departments had engaged in wildfire education and outreach in a number of local neighborhoods, although the amount of wildfire prevention education received varied from none to considerable. Results show that neighborhood organizations are a readymade physical, social, and political entity capable of playing an important role in helping people reduce their wildfire risk. A series of recommendations geared to resource managers who want to work with neighborhood organizations was developed from research findings.