Team Members: Kerry Grimm (Northern Arizona University), Rachel Mitchell (Northern Arizona University), Temuulen Sankey (Northern Arizona University)
Executive Summary: Important to community wildfire preparedness is ensuring that the correct information about ecological conditions, mitigation approaches, and fire safety and evacuation plans are communicated to as many people as possible in directly and indirectly affected communities. The accessibility and accuracy of information, including NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) and the interagency Inciweb, shared through both formal (Emergency Alert) and informal pathways (e.g., social media) had not been well quantified, especially for non-English speaking and other Environmental Justice or underserved communities. These groups may have limited capacities to access accurate information involving wildfire risk, mitigation strategies, or evacuation preparedness.
To help inform and expand equitable access of NASA and other wildfire tools, we are conducting a community feasibility study to examine how diverse groups in northern Arizona’s fire-impacted communities access wildfire information, as well as the types of information used and their methods accessing this information. To collect data, we are surveying residents, interviewing key stakeholders and those involved with wildfire management or communication, and taking ecological measurements. We are working with existing community partners from Environmental Justice and underserved communities (e.g., Latino/a, Indigenous).
Our study area includes Flagstaff and surrounding areas near recent fires (Slide, Rafael, Museum), as well as areas further away but still affected by the fires (e.g., smoke). We are evaluating when and which NASA fire products are used for community decision-making, as well as their use by officials in fire communication and management. We also investigate why and where these products are not used and identify ways to improve their accessibility. Furthermore, we are integrating social and ecological approaches by measuring both ecological variables (e.g., tree density on private property and neighborhoods, proximity of structures to vegetation) and conducting surveys to understand fire awareness, level of concern, approaches used to mitigate fires, and types of information accessed. Understanding the relationship between ecological measures and perceptions of fire risk and awareness can inform NASA and other agencies about additional information they could include to increase resident fire knowledge. In particular, we are comparing differences between user groups such as ethnicity (e.g., Latino/a, Diné, Caucasian), language (e.g., Spanish, Diné, English), socioeconomics (e.g., income level, home ownership type), and landowner jurisdiction (e.g., neighborhood HOA) to determine if significant differences exist between groups, what causes these differences (e.g., lack of funding, lack of communications, lack of trust), and ways to address weaknesses (e.g., identify trusted sources and ways to leverage these sources). We anticipate community resilience can be increased by identifying inequities and ways to mitigate impacts resulting from these inequities.