Wildfire Evacuation Choice-Making among Underserved Groups in Alberta and British Columbia

  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
  • Wildfire events continue to threaten multiple regions in Canada, and evacuations are often the primary means of ensuring life safety. Understanding how people make decisions before and during wildfire evacuations is thus important in informing future preparedness and planning. This research collected online survey data between May and July 2023, from residents living in high to moderate fire risk areas of Alberta and British Columbia (n=2868) to understand their intended evacuation behavior and choice-making during a future wildfire event. Our analysis focuses on underserved groups (people with disabilities, older adults, lower-income households, visible minorities, and carless residents) who are often neglected in disaster management and evacuation planning processes.

    We contribute to the literature by uniquely focusing on decision-making within distinct underserved groups, rather than simply using these identities as variables within a broader model. Estimated logit models offer insight into factors affecting evacuation departure timing, destination and route choices, transportation mode choices, and preferred shelter types. Key results suggest that factors such as perceived wildfire risk, previous evacuation experiences, and intersecting vulnerabilities have a significant influence on choices among the different groups. Based on our findings, we provide several policy recommendations for local agencies, including: 1) ensuring multimodal evacuation plans with transit and shared mobility considerations, 2) equipping public shelters with amenities to accommodate diverse needs, and 3) providing targeted support for those with intersecting vulnerabilities.

  • Date created
    2025-01-01
  • Subjects / Keywords
  • Type of Item
    Article (Draft / Submitted)
  • DOI
    https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-pxv0-my29
  • License
    Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International