Pine Ridge Fire summary report

Hannah Brenkert-Smith; Sarah M. McCaffrey; Melanie Stidham

doi:10.2737/NRS-RN-171

Treesearch

Pine Ridge Fire summary report

Informally Refereed

Authors:

Hannah Brenkert-Smith, Sarah M. McCaffrey, Melanie Stidham

Year:

2013

Type:

Research Note

Station:

Northern Research Station

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.2737/NRS-RN-171

Source:

Res. Note NRS-171. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 12 p.

Download (PDF 1.01 MB)

Download (PDF 1.01 MB): https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/43880.pdf

Abstract

In July 2012, immediately after the Pine Ridge Fire burned outside De Beque, Colorado, a team of researchers interviewed fire managers, local government officials, and residents to understand perceptions of the event itself, communication, evacuation, and pre-fire preparedness in order to identify contributors to success and areas for improvement. Although the fire had been a fast-moving event that presented significant risk to critical regional infrastructure and homes, research participants largely agreed that the fire management response prevented losses and that the actions taken before the fire among fire managers and emergency responders to plan and build relationships were a key component of the success.

Keywords

wildfire, emergency response, evacuation, wildland-urban interface, social dynamics, fire management

Citation

Brenkert-Smith, Hannah; McCaffrey, Sarah; Stidham, Melanie. 2013. Pine Ridge Fire summary report. Res. Note NRS-171. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 12 p.