Nat Hazards (2015) 76:615–634 DOI 10.1007/s11069-014-1512-x ORIGINAL PAPER What information do people use, trust, and find useful during a disaster? Evidence from five large wildfires Toddi A. Steelman • Sarah M. McCaffrey • Anne-Lise Knox Velez • Jason Alexander Briefel Received: 9 April 2014 / Accepted: 4 November 2014 / Published online: 16 November 2014 Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014 Abstract The communication system through which information flows during a disaster can be conceived of as a set of relationships among sources and recipients who are concerned about key information characteristics. The recipient perspective is often neglected within this system. In this article, we explore recipient perspectives related to what information was used, useful, and trustworthy in a wildfire context. Using a survey (n = 873) on five large wildfires in 2009 and 2010, we found significant gaps between the sources that were used by the most respondents and those that that they rated as useful or trustworthy. The sources that were used most before the fires were highly correlated with the sources that were used most during the fire. Keywords Public information Á Communication Á Used Á Useful Á Trustworthy 1 Introduction Information is an essential resource during a disaster. Without information, responders cannot effectively manage a disaster, and those affected by the disaster cannot best adapt to T. A. Steelman (&) School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan, 329 Kirk Hall, 117 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK S7H 2J5, Canada e-mail:
[email protected] S. M. McCaffrey Northern Research Station USDA Forest Service, 1033 University Place, #360, Evanston, IL 60626, USA e-mail:
[email protected] A.-L.