Whew, those Santa Ana winds that fall on Southern California can be brutal. When accompanied by fire weather and red flag conditions, you know you could be facing a bad day. That's exactly what happened December 10-12 in Malibu, CA and the events could have been even more dire, but clear communication appears to have helped reduce the tragic impacts so close to the holidays.
Three key messages stand out in this event. All three were sent by Los Angeles County Fire and all three provided escalating risk information as the context changed or differed for different portions of the canyon.
Importantly, as you'll read below, two of the messages included the technical jargon that is required by California Office of Emergency Services (evacuation warning and evacuation order). In more that 60% of historical wildfire messages, these words have signified the type of threat and the recommended protective actions without additional plain language to describe or explain. You can read about that here. However, the messages below move beyond jargon to include plain language explanations. And this is what makes the stand out.
In the first type of message, we find LA County Fire providing a preemptive, BE AWARE message. Issued late a night, it served as an alarm to pay attention that something bad was coming and people should not go to bed unprepared for conditions to worsen. This message includes the source, hazard, and protective actions, and directs people to a location to find additional information.
The second type of message issued is for the Evacuation Warning condition. Here LACoFD clearly articulates that the message is for a wildfire and provides the location under threat.
The message also offers a plain language explanation for Evacuation Warning. For those who live in the area, they should get ready to leave. But, for those who have additional needs, they should consider leaving now. A phone number is provided for emergency assistance (911) and a weblink is offered for more information. This message includes the source, hazard, location, and guidance.
The third type of message issued is for the Evacuation Order condition. Here LACoFD provides a terse explanation by stating: Leave now. This plain language message is easily translated, and simple to understand.
This message includes the source, hazard, location, and guidance. It also offers a phone number for emergency assistance. provides a weblink for more information.
Taken together, this suite of messages is a demonstration of how to communicate phases of an increasingly threatening situation using plain language. We've seen the use of varying tactics that incorporate phases, levels, and other mandatory language. Forthcoming research has shown that jargon terms are not commonly understood by the public, thus requiring the additional effort to include plain language along with technical and operational words.
We hope that these plain language approaches can continue to be improved upon and utilized by risk communicators. There is much to be done to increase the effectiveness of the most commonly issued type of WEA. These are excellent examples of how to do so for wildfire.
If your organization is developing alert and warning messages for ANY type of hazard or event, be sure to take a look at the resources available to help you and your organization to write effective messages in a pinch. Bookmark and download The Warning Lexicon - it's free and offers step-by-step instructions on how to write a better warning messages for 48 hazards.
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