The Fort Mcmurray Wildfire 2016: Risk Perceptions and Behaviours Among Evacuees
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Jacksonville State University JSU Digital Commons Dissertations Theses, Dissertations & Graduate Projects Explore JSU's Graduate Programs Summer 2017 The Fort McMurray Wildfire 2016: Risk Perceptions and Behaviours Among Evacuees Christopher James Kearns Jacksonville State University, [email protected] Part of the Emergency and Disaster Management Commons See all JSU Student Works Recommended Citation Kearns, Christopher James, "The Fort McMurray Wildfire 2016: Risk Perceptions and Behaviours Among Evacuees" (2017). Dissertations. 2. https://digitalcommons.jsu.edu/etds_dissertations/2 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations & Graduate Projects at JSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of JSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE FORT MCMURRAY WILDFIRE 2016: RISK PERCEPTIONS AND BEHAVIOURS AMONG EVACUEES A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Jacksonville State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Science in Emergency Management By CHRISTOPHER JAMES KEARNS Jacksonville, Alabama August 17, 2017 ABSTRACT The devastating wildfires in the Fort McMurray, Alberta, region in May of 2016 forced the evacuation of almost 90,000 people from their homes. This study examines and compares risk perceptions and evacuation behaviours between young adults, 18 to 24 years of age and older adults, 25 years and older, and between genders. The study participants (n = 299) were students and staff at Keyano College in Fort McMurray. They indicated only slight differences in their perceptions of risk and their evacuation behaviours between both the age groups and by gender. Environmental cues were significant indicators of risk for all participants. The majority of respondents (82 percent) fled the day the mandatory evacuation order was issued. Social media and local news were the most relied on sources of disaster and evacuation information utilized by respondents. Facebook was the most popular for social media platforms. Emergency managers must ensure effective use of these two information sources to communicate disaster information. VITA Chris Kearns has been involved in public safety since he first served with the Canadian Coast Guard, as summer employment, throughout his early university days. He landed a career in emergency response communications, starting out as a 9-1-1 call taker/dispatcher in Fredericton, New Brunswick, in 1991. Chris is currently the manager for the City of Lethbridge Public Safety Communications Centre, in Lethbridge, Alberta. When required, he serves on the city’s incident management team for disaster and emergency response. Chris, a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM), has been deployed to the Emergency Operations Centres for both the 2013 Flooding in Southern Alberta (High River), and the 2016 Wildfire in Fort McMurray - the two most costly natural disasters, to date, in Canadian history. Chris holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of New Brunswick and a Master of Science degree, in Emergency Management, from Jacksonville State University. In his spare time, Chris has developed and taught both the crisis management and critical incident analysis courses at Lethbridge College, for their criminal justice degree program. Chris is happily married to Nancy and they have three great kids, who are all grown up, traversing the globe, and earnestly chasing their own academic pursuits. DEDICATION This doctoral process, for me, started in 2011 when both my father and my father-in-law were still alive. This is dedicated to them. My dad, was the first Dr. Kearns in our family and always had a penchant for anything emergency response related. My father- in-law, Deryk Sparks, had a lifelong love of learning, and always had positive and encouraging comments to say about continuing education. Both would be very proud of seeing this completed. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Taking six years out of one’s life to work on and complete a doctoral program is a fairly big commitment. It isn’t solely a personal commitment, as this type of effort is sure to impact and disrupt more than just one life throughout the process. That being said, my first and foremost acknowledgement goes to my wife, Nancy. She is the one who has persevered through missed summer vacations and not being able to use her dining room table (as it is my workspace) since 2011. Her support and encouragement have meant the world to me and I would not be finished had it not been for her. My family has to be next. Our children, Ben, Emily, and David have likewise been encouraging, supportive, and proud of me. All of them have a healthy respect for advanced education and it is uplifting to see them plan their futures with a university underpinning as their foundations. Special kudos to Emily, as she has been home the most…her interest in my studies, and her assistance with the survey, as my research assistant, was most helpful and appreciated. She has been a great sounding board as I’ve tried to arrive at “just what it is I’m trying to accomplish” – some days it seemed more vague than others. As for family, I’d be remiss not to mention my mother. She checked in every week and wanted to have an update… “Where are you at?”; “What have you got left to do?” My two brothers, Glen and Tim, and their respective families, have also been very supportive and proud of my work. A huge thanks to the students and staff at Keyano College in Fort McMurray, Alberta; they were welcoming and fun. They allowed us the opportunity and privilege of peering into their lives, as they recalled one the most tumultuous times that some of them will ever experience. Special thanks to Mr. Louis Dingley, the chair of the Research Ethics Board, who not only approved the research, but assisted with making the arrangements for us to visit the campus. A word of thanks goes to my neighbours, the Wildwood Cres. gang, for listening to my rants…while passing me another beverage. This includes a handful of academics, who, because of the nature of their professions, were easy targets for discourse. I truly appreciate the friendship and the patience. I should also mention Kathy Jang, a family friend, who made it her mission to question, “Shouldn’t you be working?”, at every opportunity. To my work family, thanks for listening! Joel McDonald, Dana Terry, Ward Eggli, Luke Palmer and Holly Wright – all happy to hear of my study and offer comments and advice. Special mention to my boss, Tony Vanden Heuvel, for being incredibly supportive and encouraging. For a football guy, he makes a darn good cheer leader! Thanks! To Cohort #1, “Non Omnis Moriar!” (loosely translated, “Not everyone will die!”) We set the tone for the entire program and helped with its development. Congratulations to those who have already defended and/or graduated – Mike Ryan, Wayne Bergeron, Kay Vonderschmidt, and Scott Manning. To those still writing… you’ve got this! Special thanks to Wayne Bergeron and Royce Woodruff – you two truly helped me to get through this – your texts, your calls, they were all timely and so much appreciated. vi Thanks to the rest of you around the pool, newer cohorts included. Although I didn’t get to know all of you as well as others, it was and is so nice to have a community of fellow students, that understand, and that we can talk to and share with – whether it be at the pool in person or on the poolside pontification on Facebook. Thanks to Russell Peterson, Jeff Smith, and Larysa Murray – your poolside conversations and occasional texts have always made me smile, or outright laugh, and encouraged me – thanks! Lastly, to my professors, Dr. Tanveer Islam, my committee chair, Dr. Jane Kushma, Dr. Bill Lowe, and Dr. Huang. Thank you all for your help, your guidance, your sage advice, and your commitment. You all played a statistically significant role (at the 0.05 level) in shaping me as the researcher I am today. Thank you. Dr. Ryan, although not part of my committee, thanks for the push. “Everyone works better with deadlines”, he said. It is the truth. Thank you for that. A final word of thanks goes to Dr. Barry Cox. I met Barry at the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) Canada Conferences and he encouraged me to enroll in the Master’s program in Emergency Management at JSU. When the Doctoral program was starting, Barry called me up and suggested I apply. If not for Barry, I would not have even been aware of the emergency management programs at JSU – Thanks Barry. To anyone I missed, my apologies, it wasn’t intentional. Thanks to everyone again. Chris vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. IV VITA ............................................................................................................................................. IV DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................... V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ VI TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................................... 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