Where's the Fire? Co-Constructing Bushfire in the Everyday Landscape

Abstract

This research studied factors that residents of a fire-prone Victorian community used when deciding whether to leave their homes on a day officially declared “Catastrophic,” the highest Fire Danger Rating. Taking a social constructivist perspective, we explore how the expert view of bushfire risk, represented by Fire Danger Ratings, is interpreted within the context of local understandings of the landscape and social memory of bushfire. Residents perceive a disconnection between the Fire Danger Rating and local reality. Their social construction of bushfire is related to social and ecological memory, which comprises physical experience of the landscape and local fire knowledge narratives. The exclusion of this social complexity from Fire Danger Ratings diminished their utility as a way of helping people make meaning of bushfire. We propose that fire management agencies work with communities to develop a co-constructed view of bushfire risk that incorporates local bushfire knowledge into Fire Danger Ratings.

Keywords:

• fire danger ratings
• landscape
• social and ecological memory
• social construction of bushfire

Acknowledgments

We thank the people of Halls Gap whose participation made this study possible. We also gratefully acknowledge the anonymous reviewers whose insights greatly improved our manuscript. This research was made possible by funding from the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute of the University of Melbourne.

Notes

See, for example, the graphic television commercials screened during 2011/2012 by Victoria's Country Fire Authority (http://www.cfaconnect.net.au/news/hard-hitting-tv-ads-launch.html).

In September 2010, AFAC issued a new policy that makes it explicit that the option to stay and defend carries a risk of injury or death. This new policy was issued after this case study was conducted, and we are unable to comment on its impact in relation to people's decisions on a “Catastrophic” day.

Horsham, 45 miles from Halls Gap, is a town that authorities recommend Halls Gap residents relocate to on a “Code Red/Catastrophic” day.