Skip to main content

Evacuation

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:

Synonyms

Clear; Escape; Flee; Leave; Remove; Vacate

Definition

Evacuation is a protective action where people move from a high-risk area to one offering greater safety. It can be recommended by officials or performed voluntarily by residents without an official warning.

Introduction

Evacuation is an effective protective action when a community is threatened by wildfire. The threat, in this case, is flammable vegetation and structures that pose a risk to residents in the form of radiant heat and smoke. Wildfire evacuations are typically precautionary (or pre-impact), as they are conducted when a wildfire is proximal but prior to community impact. The main questions in evacuating a community are who should evacuate, when they should leave, and where they should go. The corresponding steps are to delimit an evacuation zone and transmit a warning message to residents that includes recommended departure times, routes, and destinations.

Evacuation planning in wildfire areas can be performed...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

References

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas J. Cova .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Section Editor information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Cova, T.J. (2019). Evacuation. In: Manzello, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Wildfires and Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Fires. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51727-8_104-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51727-8_104-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-51727-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-51727-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EngineeringReference Module Computer Science and Engineering

Publish with us

Policies and ethics