Organizational Challenges of Post-Fire Recovery: Decision Making, Collective Action, and Community Outcomes
Summary
On December 30, 2021, the Marshall Fire destroyed over 1,000 homes in Boulder County, Colorado. Our project aims to understand rebuilding decisions after wildfires, through investigating the individual, organizational, and community-level processes that shape recovery outcomes, focusing on fire resiliency, sustainability, and expediency.听We examine local government decision-making as they navigate the tension between short-term needs, such as rapid housing recovery, and long-term goals like sustainable development and wildfire risk reduction. The project also explores the collective and organizational aspects of rebuilding, analyzing the factors that support or hinder coordination and collective action for fire-resilient reconstruction, including the roles of homeowner associations and informal neighborhood groups in shaping and negotiating regulatory changes. Finally, we assess the outcomes of the rebuilding efforts in terms of their effectiveness at reducing future fire risk, minimizing environmental impacts, and improving the speed and cost-efficiency of rebuilding. Ultimately, this work aims to advance both organizational science and disaster recovery practice by identifying what enables communities to rebuild better鈥攆aster, stronger, and greener鈥攁fter devastating wildfires.
Funding
Research Questions
- What factors influence the adoption and enforcement of resiliency and sustainability-oriented building codes in a post-disaster environment?
- What factors influence individual homeowner rebuilding decisions for sustainability and fire resilience?
- How do HOAs and other neighborhood/homeowner groups influence the adoption of fire-resilient fencing when rebuilding after wildfire?
- What community outcomes were achieved in the rebuilding efforts for fire resiliency, sustainability, and expediency?
What influence do contractors have in shaping fire resiliency, sustainability, and expediency outcomes while considering other influencing factors like jurisdiction and homeowner decisions?
Methods
We use a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to answer our research questions. The quantitative methods include statistical and graphical analysis of permitting information and survey data. The qualitative data collection includes interviews with key stakeholders such as public officials, homeowners, community organizers, and builders, and publicly available documents. Interviews are analyzed through cross-case comparison and an abductive coding process to identify key themes.
Homeowner Survey Data
We are proud to have partnered with the Marshall Fire Unified Research Group, a group of researchers that distributed a three-wave survey to Marshall Fire residents. The goal of these surveys was to answer the research questions of many different groups of academics through a single outlet, to reduce the burden on affected residents. This survey data was used in our project鈥檚 second publication, titled, 鈥楬omeowner Priorities for Sustainability and Resilience When Rebuilding Homes after Wildfire.鈥
Qualitative Interviews
To characterize jurisdictional decisions and processes within each jurisdiction, a cross-case comparison was conducted between jurisdictions, noting how processes, structures, and decisions influenced community outcomes. Data collection included 22 interviews with local staff and elected officials, observation of 78 public meetings post-fire, and analysis of public documents like emails, meeting minutes, reports. Key decisions studied adoption of residential energy codes, updates to residential building codes to include Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) measures, and enforcement of residential fire sprinkler requirements. Interviews were abductively coded using NVivo to identify decision-making factors, tradeoffs, and outcomes.
To understand homeowner decisions for sustainability and fire resilience, we conducted over 50 semi-structured interviews with homeowners and community organizers. These interviews were abductively coded and thematically analyzed. Sustainability decisions analyzed include the energy code or tier homes were built to, heating and cooling systems, and solar panels. Fire resilience decisions include material used in the rebuilt home, landscaping design and fencing material, and choice of indoor sprinkler system.
Permit Data Collection
Comprehensive permitting data has been collected on the homes being rebuilt post fire with the goals of determining what community outcomes have been achieved for fire resiliency, sustainability, and expediency and how different factors influence these outcomes. Data was collected through accessing public permitting and assessor websites, submitting open records requests with individual jurisdictions, and walking data collection by inspection. This data set was then analyzed for trends and outcomes looking at different influences like location, builder type, and homeowner.
Findings
Post-Fire Jurisdictional Decision-Making for Sustainability and Resiliency Outcomes
This study examines how local jurisdictions make post-wildfire decisions about building codes related to sustainability and fire resilience, using the Marshall Fire recovery as a case study. It finds that local decision-making is heavily influenced by uncertainty, emotional trauma, and shifting priorities. Key factors included uncertainty around rebuilding costs, insurance coverage, and incentive availability. Jurisdictions with greater prior disaster experience, such as Unincorporated Boulder County, were more likely to uphold or even expand strict building requirements. In contrast, communities like Louisville and Superior, facing higher uncertainty and public pressure to reduce barriers for underinsured residents, opted to relax or allow opt-outs from newer building codes. As a result, Unincorporated Boulder County retained its stringent BuildSmart energy code, expanded fire-resistant requirements, and maintained a sprinkler mandate. Louisville and Superior permitted opt-outs from the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code due to cost concerns; Louisville continued to lack wildfire-specific codes and indoor sprinkler requirements, while Superior adopted the 2021 International Wildland-Urban Interface Code with an opt-out for one neighborhood and waived sprinklers for all rebuilding homes. The study highlights the value of pre-disaster planning and local capacity-building to strengthen sustainability and resilience outcomes in future recovery efforts.
Homeowner Priorities for Sustainability and Resilience When Rebuilding Homes after Wildfire
This study explores homeowner priorities during post-wildfire reconstruction, focusing on sustainability and fire resilience. Based on a survey of individuals rebuilding homes after the Marshall Fire, the research finds that while cost remains the leading concern, many homeowners also value aesthetics, environmental performance (sustainability), and resilience to future fires. Notably, the study reveals a strong association between sustainability and fire resilience: those who prioritized one were significantly more likely to prioritize the other. These insights offer guidance for integrating resilient and sustainable design strategies into post-disaster recovery efforts and suggest that successful approaches must thoughtfully address both the cost and aesthetic appeal of these strategies.
This work is ongoing. More findings and publications to come!
Publications & Outreach
Ellery, M., Javernick-Will, A., Liel, A., Dickinson, K. (2023). 鈥淛urisdictional decision-making about building codes for resiliency and sustainability post-fire.鈥澨 Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability, 3(4): 045004.听
After the recent LA Fire, our team created a website of recommendations for homeowners who lost their homes to help them rebuild. These recommendations were shared with over a thousand survivors of the LA Fire: