title: Mapping fires and American Red Cross aid using demographic indicators of vulnerability.
abstract: Social vulnerability indicators can assist with informing disaster relief preparation. Certain demographic segments of a population may suffer disproportionately during disaster events, and a geographical understanding of them can help to determine where to place strategically logistical assets and to target disaster-awareness outreach endeavours. Records of house fire events and American Red Cross aid provision over a five-year period were mapped for the County of Los Angeles, California, United States, to examine the congruence between actual events and expectations of risk based on vulnerability theory. The geographical context provided by the data was compared with spatially-explicit indicators of vulnerability, such as age, race, and wealth. Fire events were found to occur more frequently in more vulnerable areas, and Red Cross aid was found to have an even stronger relationship to those places. The findings suggest that these indicators speak beyond vulnerability and relate to patterns of fire risk.
authors.affiliation: Senior GIS Specialist, EEC Environmental, United States.
authors.forename: Evan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lue
authors.affiliation: Professor and Director, Spatial Sciences Institute, University of Southern California, United States.
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Wilson
mesh_terms: D003710:Demography; D004190:Disasters; D005390:Fires; D006801:Humans; D015141:Los Angeles; D012011:Red Cross; D012066:Relief Work; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D035862:Vulnerable Populations
keywords: American Red Cross; National Fire Information and Reporting System (NFIRS); disasters; home fires; social vulnerability