What does being "well-prepared" for wildfire mean?

The ability of landowners to respond to and recover from a wildfire

event depends to a large degree on their preparation. Despite the

attention and resources directed to this goal many people generally

remain underprepared (AFAC, 2010; Eriksen & Gill, 2010; Prior,

2010). This information-to-action gap is by no means Australia-specific,

having been recognised as an important public policy issue internationally

(Jakes, 2002; McCaffrey, 2006; Stetler, Venn & Calkin, 2010).

If being "well prepared" is a key objective of wildfire risk communication,

then this begs the question: what is "well prepared"? The

term "well prepared" is widely used but poorly defined. Pursuing this

objective thus requires examining what well prepared actually means

to risk communicators and at-risk residents respectively. This analysis

is based on the distinct, but complementary aspects of preparation:

practical and psychological preparedness.