Preparedness and Experiences of Evacuees from the 2016 Fort McMurray Horse River Wildfire
The 2016 Fort McMurray Horse River Wildfire that caused the evacuation of more than 88,000 residents from the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB), Alberta is the largest wildfire evacuation in Canadian history. This paper presents results of an online survey of 447 evacuees in June when som...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:1e2090b413354289b4d072b47aa3452c 2023-05-15T16:17:34+02:00 Preparedness and Experiences of Evacuees from the 2016 Fort McMurray Horse River Wildfire Tara K. McGee 2019-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/fire2010013 https://doaj.org/article/1e2090b413354289b4d072b47aa3452c EN eng MDPI AG http://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/2/1/13 https://doaj.org/toc/2571-6255 2571-6255 doi:10.3390/fire2010013 https://doaj.org/article/1e2090b413354289b4d072b47aa3452c Fire, Vol 2, Iss 1, p 13 (2019) wildfire evacuation preparedness risk perception social cues environmental cues warning traffic host communities accommodation help support Physics QC1-999 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/fire2010013 2022-12-30T23:44:50Z The 2016 Fort McMurray Horse River Wildfire that caused the evacuation of more than 88,000 residents from the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB), Alberta is the largest wildfire evacuation in Canadian history. This paper presents results of an online survey of 447 evacuees in June when some residents had returned to RMWB, and others were still living elsewhere. Results of this online survey show that many survey respondents were not aware of the high wildfire risk leading up to May 3rd and social cues indicated they should carry on as usual. Many respondents received little if any warning time to enable them to prepare. Most respondents had a vehicle, but traffic impediments caused some to run out of gas, food and water on the drive away from Fort McMurray. Most respondents stayed in more than one location, with most staying with friends and family for at least part of the evacuation. Some respondents faced challenges including financial difficulties, finding suitable accommodation, and dealing with insurance, and some received insufficient information. Help was offered to evacuees by a vast array of sources including organizations, businesses, communities, and residents. The results of this study show that most survey respondents were not prepared before they had to leave, which increased reliance on help provided by others. Article in Journal/Newspaper Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Fort McMurray Horse River ENVELOPE(-111.385,-111.385,56.717,56.717) Wood Buffalo ENVELOPE(-112.007,-112.007,57.664,57.664) Fire 2 1 13 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
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English |
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wildfire evacuation preparedness risk perception social cues environmental cues warning traffic host communities accommodation help support Physics QC1-999 |
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wildfire evacuation preparedness risk perception social cues environmental cues warning traffic host communities accommodation help support Physics QC1-999 Tara K. McGee Preparedness and Experiences of Evacuees from the 2016 Fort McMurray Horse River Wildfire |
topic_facet |
wildfire evacuation preparedness risk perception social cues environmental cues warning traffic host communities accommodation help support Physics QC1-999 |
description |
The 2016 Fort McMurray Horse River Wildfire that caused the evacuation of more than 88,000 residents from the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB), Alberta is the largest wildfire evacuation in Canadian history. This paper presents results of an online survey of 447 evacuees in June when some residents had returned to RMWB, and others were still living elsewhere. Results of this online survey show that many survey respondents were not aware of the high wildfire risk leading up to May 3rd and social cues indicated they should carry on as usual. Many respondents received little if any warning time to enable them to prepare. Most respondents had a vehicle, but traffic impediments caused some to run out of gas, food and water on the drive away from Fort McMurray. Most respondents stayed in more than one location, with most staying with friends and family for at least part of the evacuation. Some respondents faced challenges including financial difficulties, finding suitable accommodation, and dealing with insurance, and some received insufficient information. Help was offered to evacuees by a vast array of sources including organizations, businesses, communities, and residents. The results of this study show that most survey respondents were not prepared before they had to leave, which increased reliance on help provided by others. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Tara K. McGee |
author_facet |
Tara K. McGee |
author_sort |
Tara K. McGee |
title |
Preparedness and Experiences of Evacuees from the 2016 Fort McMurray Horse River Wildfire |
title_short |
Preparedness and Experiences of Evacuees from the 2016 Fort McMurray Horse River Wildfire |
title_full |
Preparedness and Experiences of Evacuees from the 2016 Fort McMurray Horse River Wildfire |
title_fullStr |
Preparedness and Experiences of Evacuees from the 2016 Fort McMurray Horse River Wildfire |
title_full_unstemmed |
Preparedness and Experiences of Evacuees from the 2016 Fort McMurray Horse River Wildfire |
title_sort |
preparedness and experiences of evacuees from the 2016 fort mcmurray horse river wildfire |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/fire2010013 https://doaj.org/article/1e2090b413354289b4d072b47aa3452c |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-111.385,-111.385,56.717,56.717) ENVELOPE(-112.007,-112.007,57.664,57.664) |
geographic |
Fort McMurray Horse River Wood Buffalo |
geographic_facet |
Fort McMurray Horse River Wood Buffalo |
genre |
Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo |
genre_facet |
Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo |
op_source |
Fire, Vol 2, Iss 1, p 13 (2019) |
op_relation |
http://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/2/1/13 https://doaj.org/toc/2571-6255 2571-6255 doi:10.3390/fire2010013 https://doaj.org/article/1e2090b413354289b4d072b47aa3452c |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/fire2010013 |
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Fire |
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2 |
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1 |
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13 |
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