Victoria Country Hour

Indecision on stay or go with bushfire threats

Vic Country Hour Libby Price
A Country Fire Authority truck is pictured in front of flames while fighting a Bunyip bushfire

Researchers have surveyed several thousand people about their bushfire preparedness.

Andrew Brownbill: AAP

Researchers have found most people won't make a decision to evacuate or stay to defend their home until they're already at risk from a bushfire.

The Bushfire Co-operative Research Centre says fewer than 1 per cent of several thousand people surveyed have already decided to leave on days of extreme or catastrophic fire danger.

This is the opposite of the advice given by fire agencies, which ask that if people plan to evacuate on high fire danger days, they should do so early, even if there are no fires.

Assistant professor of psychology with the Bushfire CRC, Dr Ilona McNeill, says most people also don't really know how they'll defend their homes if they stay.

"One of the problems that we're finding is that the people who delay that decision, as to whether they'll defend or evacuate, they prepare less for defending their house, so if they do end up making that decision, they are less prepared than people who are more set on defending their house."

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