@article {bnh-1741, title = {Community Understanding and Awareness of Bushfire Safety: October 2013 Bushfires - Overview}, year = {2014}, abstract = {

This overview provides a consolidation of the findings from the interviews and online surveys conducted by the\ Bushfire CRC researcher into the community understanding of bushfire safety and responses in the context of the\ October 2013 Bushfires in NSW. This work was commissioned by NSW Rural Fire Service.\ This research had two separate {\textendash} but interconnected {\textendash} components, (i) a series of interviews with residents in\ a number of fire impacted communities, and (ii) an online survey (also targeted to those communities but open\ more broadly to fire impacted areas in NSW ) each of these has been analysed and reported upon in detail in the\ reports submitted. Both components focused on common themes and the following summarises the combined\ responses.\ 

The executive summaries from the two individual reports are provided at the end of the consolidated findings.

}, isbn = {978-0-9925027-3-7}, author = {Wright, Lyndsey and Jim McLennan and Birch, Adrian and Bronwyn Horsey and Trent Penman} } @article {bnh-1742, title = {Community Understanding and Awareness of Bushfire Safety: October 2013 Bushfires - Part 1}, year = {2014}, abstract = {

The calendar year 2013 was one of the worst on record for destructive bushfires in NSW. In January,\ fires swept across numerous areas, destroying more than 50 homes. Then in October, bushfires\ again threatened many communities, with more than 200 homes lost. Following both of these\ bushfire events, NSW Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) asked the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre\ (CRC) to: (a) coordinate a program of interviews with residents in three seriously affected areas; and\ (b) commission an online survey of residents in the same affected areas. The purpose was to assist\ the organisation to learn as much as possible about residents{\textquoteright} prior understandings of bushfire risk\ and their experiences during the fires, thus contributing to improved community safety for the\ future.

For this study NSW RFS identified three areas that had been impacted by significant bushfire events\ during October 2013: (i) greater Blue Mountains (including locations at Bell, Clarence, Dargan,\ Lithgow, Mount Irvine; Mount Victoria; Faulconbridge, Springwood, Winmalee, Yellow Rock){\textemdash}\ significant fire activity 16 October{\textendash}13 November; (ii) Port Stephens (including locations at Medowie,\ Raymond Terrace, Tomago, Williamtown; Salt Ash){\textemdash}significant fire activity 13{\textendash}23 October; and\ (iii) Wingecarribee Shire (including locations at Balmoral Village, Colo Vale, Yanderra, Yerrinbool){\textemdash}\ significant fire activity 17{\textendash}24 October.

}, isbn = {978-0-9925027-3-7}, author = {Jim McLennan and Wright, Lyndsey and Birch, Adrian} } @article {BF-2383, title = {Why Would You Do It? Age and Motivation to Become a Fire Service Volunteer}, journal = {Australian and New Zealand Journal of Organizational Psychology}, volume = {1}, year = {2008}, month = {08/2008}, pages = {7 - 11}, abstract = {Australian communities are very dependent on volunteer-based fire services for protection against fires and other hazards. However, overall volunteer numbers have declined significantly over the past decade, due mostly to the impact of economic and demographic changes on Australian society. One effect of these is that volunteer fire service memberships are ageing. Little is known with certainty about what motivates individuals to become fire service volunteers. A survey of 455 CFA volunteers suggested that those who volunteer do so because of a mix of community-safety, community-contribution, and self-oriented motivations. It appears that younger volunteers are more likely to be motivated by self-oriented perceived benefits from volunteering compared with older volunteers. However, they are no less motivated, on average, by community-safety concerns and community contribution desires than are older volunteers.}, doi = {10.1375/ajop.1.1.7}, author = {Jim McLennan and Birch, Adrian} } @article {BF-1339, title = {Factors impacting on recruiting and retaining Australia{\textquoteright}s volunteer firefighters: Some reseach evidence}, journal = {Australian Journal on Volunteering}, volume = {12}, number = {2}, year = {2007}, author = {Jim McLennan and Birch, Adrian and Beatson, Ruth and Sean Cowlishaw} } @article {BF-1313, title = {NSW Grain Belt Community Survey 2005 - Evaluating the community s understanding about the NSW Rural Fire Service}, journal = {Australian Journal on Volunteering }, volume = {1}, number = {12}, year = {2007}, month = {5/16/2007}, pages = {14-25}, url = {http://www.bushfirecrc.com/sites/default/files/managed/resource/grainbelt_survey_report_1_final.pdf}, author = {Birch, Adrian and Jim McLennan} } @proceedings {BF-1323, title = {Volunteer firefighting: A job for a woman?}, year = {2007}, address = {Adelaide}, author = {Jim McLennan and Birch, Adrian and Beatson, Ruth and Sean Cowlishaw} } @article {BF-1322, title = {Who{\textquoteright}s interested? The NSW Grain Belt community survey about volunteering with the NSW Rural Fire Service}, journal = {Australian Journal on Volunteering }, volume = {1}, number = {12}, year = {2007}, month = {5/16/2007}, pages = {14-25}, author = {Birch, Adrian and Jim McLennan} } @article {BF-1338, title = {Survey of ACT Rural Fire Service Women Volunteers}, year = {2006}, url = {http://www.bushfirecrc.com/publications/citation/bf-1338}, author = {Jim McLennan and Birch, Adrian and Palmer, A} } @article {BF-1337, title = {Estimates of the Likely Impact on TFS Operational Volunteer Fire Fighter Numbers of Introducing Mandatory Fitness Standards}, year = {2005}, url = {http://www.bushfirecrc.com/sites/default/files/managed/resource/tfs_report_2005_1_agefitness-2.pdf}, author = {Jim McLennan and Birch, Adrian} } @article {BF-2319, title = {A potential crisis in wildfire emergency response capability? Australia{\textquoteright}s volunteer firefighters}, journal = {Global Environmental Change Part B: Environmental Hazards}, volume = {6}, year = {2005}, month = {2005}, pages = {101 - 107}, abstract = {In most OECD countries, emergency response to accidents and natural disasters is very dependent on a trained workforce of emergency services volunteers: fire, rescue, medical, care and relief. With its large area, sparsely settled population, and frequent periods of low rainfall, Australia is particularly vulnerable to the threat posed by wildfires. There are an estimated 220,000 rural fire volunteers (in a population of 20 million) in eight state and territory volunteer rural fire services. These fire services have experienced significant decreases in volunteer numbers over the past decade, a trend which is true also of North American volunteer fire services. An investigation suggests that the decrease is driven by two related sets of factors: economic and demographic. Globalisation and deregulation of the economy, and technological innovation, have resulted in structural changes in the nature of work: privatisation, casualisation, self-employment, and demands for increased productivity. These factors make it more difficult for members of communities to volunteer, regardless of their motivation to do so. Further, like many other OECD countries, Australia{\textquoteright}s birth rate has fallen over the last three decades, resulting in a decline in the proportion of the population aged between 25 and 45 years{\textemdash}a trend that is unlikely to be reversed in the foreseeable future. These economic and demographic changes make it difficult for Australian volunteer rural fire agencies to meet their community protection responsibilities. Responding to these challenges may require radical changes in the way that these fire services are organised and supported.}, doi = {10.1016/j.hazards.2005.10.003}, author = {Jim McLennan and Birch, Adrian} } @article {BF-1333, title = {Volunteer Recruitment and Retention Issues: A Review of the Literature}, year = {2004}, url = {http://www.bushfirecrc.com/sites/default/files/managed/resource/report_4_lit_reviewd3.pdf}, author = {Jim McLennan and Birch, Adrian and Acker, Felix and Beatson, Ruth and Jamieson, Robert} }