The investigation involved interviews with more than 500 survivors. This Fire Note reports analysis relating to human behaviour and community safety from 496 of these interview transcripts. The findings described in the final report provide a basis for fire and emergency service agencies to appraise their current community bushfire safety policies, priorities, programs and practises three and a half years after the Black Saturday fires.
Key findings from the research include:
- There was generally low levels of planning and preparedness for a severe bushfire.
- Residents who expected a personal warning or assistance from agencies tended to be less prepared.
- Residents of urban/rural interface suburbs were mostly unaware of the threat posed by adjacent bush and grassland.
- There was generally a poor level of understanding of what leaving safely under bushfire threat entailed.
The Fire Note can be viewed on the Bushfire CRC website.
The full report for this project, as well as earlier Fire Notes are available on the project website.
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