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University of Wollongong

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: Part B

2013

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Community Safety During The 2009 Australian 'Black Saturday' Bushfires: An Analysis Of Household Preparedness And Response, Joshua Whittaker, Katharine Haynes, John Handmer, J Mclennan Jan 2013

Community Safety During The 2009 Australian 'Black Saturday' Bushfires: An Analysis Of Household Preparedness And Response, Joshua Whittaker, Katharine Haynes, John Handmer, J Mclennan

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: Part B

On Saturday 7 February 2009, 173 people lost their lives and more than 2000 houses were destroyed in bushfires (wildfires) in the Australian State of Victoria. The scale of life and property loss raised fundamental questions about community bushfire safety in Australia, in particular the appropriateness of the 'Prepare, stay and defend or leave early' policy. This paper presents findings from research undertaken as part of the Australian Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre's (CRC) '2009 Victorian Bushfires Research Taskforce'. The research examined factors influencing patterns of life and property loss and survival across the fires through mail surveys (n = 1314) …