Mixed Methods Approaches to Wildfire Evacuation: Modeling Behavior, Simulation, and Equity

Details

• Creators:
  Grajdura, Sarah Allison
• Corporate Creators:
  University of California, Davis
• Contributors:
  Jaller, Miguel
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Behavior
  • Disasters and emergency operations
  • Evacuation
  • Wildfires
  • Simulation
  • Surveys
• Resource Type:
  Dissertation
• Geographical Coverage:
  California;United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  University of California, Davis
• Abstract:
  This dissertation presents several aspects of short-notice wildfire evacuation, using empirical findings from the 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County, California. I examine the manner and timing in which people find out about and begin evacuating in a short notice wildfire. Using these findings, I build a simulation model of such a disaster, and examine different worst-case scenarios. Lastly, I use thematic analysis to reveal findings from first-person interviews with fire evacuees. This topic is important due to the prevalence of wildfires in California and the chance of future no/short-notice wildfires occurring in the future. In particular, the Camp Fire was extremely deadly and destructive. It is imperative that I study these large-scale events to improve response and planning. In this dissertation, I rely on data from two post-evacuation surveys as well as interview data taken at post-fire shelters. This unique dataset allows us to answer several questions about this specific event. I use the qualitative findings to add context to our quantitative results. The first paper addresses the timing of awareness, departure, and preparation in short and no-notice wildfire events.
• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/72581/dot_72581_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 7.37 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:40cde6cd28c6deea3a5a1748aeed410635f1d3b5612a1c00dbf355461c881336dadf93f0a4c0f8b22f4a6c5b15c47abf934c307febe0f163bf925f512275212c