• What Preparation Really Means

What Preparation Really Means

Bronwyn Horsey
Research Assistant
University of Wollongong

Evidence shows that residents can decrease the risk of loss when they stay to defend their property. In order to safely defend a property, residents need to be adequately prepared for the conditions they face.
Residents who wish to evacuate prior to the arrival of a bush fire also should prepare their property and themselves for such an action. There has been no clear and quantifiable definitions of what it means to be prepared for different exposures to bush fire. A working definition of preparation covers physical and mental preparation of residents, equipment and the condition of the grounds and is used to examine the factors determining the extent to which residents are prepared.
Residents who intend to evacuate in the event of a bush fire are less likely to prepare than those that plan to stay and defend, which points to a problematic gap between official advice to prepare regardless of intended actions and public tendencies to only prepare if they intend to stay and defend.