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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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2571-6255/2/1/13/ 2023-08-20T04:06:35+02:00 Preparedness and Experiences of Evacuees from the 2016 Fort McMurray Horse River Wildfire Tara K. McGee agris 2019-03-06 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/fire2010013 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/fire2010013 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Fire; Volume 2; Issue 1; Pages: 13 wildfire evacuation preparedness risk perception social cues environmental cues warning traffic host communities accommodation help support Text 2019 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/fire2010013 2023-07-31T22:05:43Z 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. Text Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo MDPI Open Access Publishing Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo ENVELOPE(-112.007,-112.007,57.664,57.664) Horse River ENVELOPE(-111.385,-111.385,56.717,56.717) Fire 2 1 13 |
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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 |
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wildfire evacuation preparedness risk perception social cues environmental cues warning traffic host communities accommodation help support 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 |
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 |
Text |
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 |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/fire2010013 |
op_coverage |
agris |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-112.007,-112.007,57.664,57.664) ENVELOPE(-111.385,-111.385,56.717,56.717) |
geographic |
Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo Horse River |
geographic_facet |
Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo Horse River |
genre |
Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo |
genre_facet |
Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo |
op_source |
Fire; Volume 2; Issue 1; Pages: 13 |
op_relation |
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/fire2010013 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
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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1774717788244410368 |