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Compressed fire seasons and changing risk: Resident and visitor responses to the 2024 Grampians bushfires
Communities and emergency services are increasingly managing repeated bushfire events within compressed timeframes, raising important questions about how frequent fires shape risk perception, planning, and decision-making for residents and visitors of bushfire-prone areas. This presentation discusses findings from research led by RMIT University, conducted in collaboration with the CFA and funded by Safer Together. The research examines resident, visitor, and tourism stakeholder responses to the December 2024 Grampians bushfire, which occurred just ten months after the February 2024 fire in the same region.
Drawing on 46 qualitative interviews, the study examines how experiences of the February fire influenced risk perception, preparedness, and protective action during the December event. Findings from interviews with residents show that the February fire experience did not uniformly increase risk awareness. Instead, it produced divergent and sometimes contradictory responses, including heightened vigilance, reduced perceived risk associated with previously burned areas, and mixed interpretations of safety and vulnerability.
The research demonstrates that cumulative disaster experience reshapes behaviour in complex ways, challenging assumptions of linear learning from past events. It also identifies persistent communication gaps affecting visitors and tourism operators, including uneven bushfire risk awareness, inconsistent messaging from accommodation providers, and unclear expectations around evacuation and guest safety responsibilities. These findings provide practical insights for fire agencies and partners seeking to strengthen communication strategies, preparedness, and decision-making support before, during and between fire events in regions experiencing increasingly frequent bushfires.
Drawing on 46 qualitative interviews, the study examines how experiences of the February fire influenced risk perception, preparedness, and protective action during the December event. Findings from interviews with residents show that the February fire experience did not uniformly increase risk awareness. Instead, it produced divergent and sometimes contradictory responses, including heightened vigilance, reduced perceived risk associated with previously burned areas, and mixed interpretations of safety and vulnerability.
The research demonstrates that cumulative disaster experience reshapes behaviour in complex ways, challenging assumptions of linear learning from past events. It also identifies persistent communication gaps affecting visitors and tourism operators, including uneven bushfire risk awareness, inconsistent messaging from accommodation providers, and unclear expectations around evacuation and guest safety responsibilities. These findings provide practical insights for fire agencies and partners seeking to strengthen communication strategies, preparedness, and decision-making support before, during and between fire events in regions experiencing increasingly frequent bushfires.
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