A hallmark of prescribed burns is the significant amount of planning that goes into deciding where and when to conduct a burn (Morse, n.d.). These burns are scheduled months in advance with detailed burn plans that often include:
- a description of the area that will be treated,
- a list of goals and objectives,
- the specific weather conditions needed to successfully conduct the burn,
- preparations needed to get the area ready for the burn,
- a safety/contingency plan in the rare case a burn becomes uncontrolled, and
- notification plans for communicating with fire management personnel, the media, and the general public (Rizza, 2022; NWCG, 2021).
To facilitate prescribed burn health risk communication, fire management teams can plan for and incorporate communication into these existing parts of their fire plans. Specifically, they can think through communication plans at the stages outlined in the table below.
| Plan Section | Communication Planning / Activities |
| Description of the area impacted | Record what communities, including specific zip codes, may be affected (i.e., those who may live or work less than 10 miles from the burn) |
| Goal and Objectives | Include a goal about notifying residents in potentially affected communities about upcoming prescribed burns. Provide them with information about the burn, information about potential health risks of smoke irritation, and safety measures to limit smoke exposure.Include a goal about notifying residents and workers in surrounding areas if smoke from the prescribed burn impacts air quality. Particularly those from vulnerable groups (e.g., older adults; individuals with respiratory conditions, and the unhoused). |
| Safety / contingency plan | Discuss the specifics of communication for notifying residents about an upcoming burn. * What channels will you use to notify residents? * What the message(s) will be? * When will the message(s) go out? * Who will you partner with to distribute these messages? Discuss the specifics of communication if smoke from the prescribed burns begins to impact air quality. * What channels will you use to notify residents? * What the message(s) will be? * When will the message(s) go out? * Who will you partner with to distribute these messages? Tip: Use our communication templates and key messages about prescribed burns to notify residents about upcoming burns. Tip: Use our decision support tool to determine in what scenarios health risk communication is most critical. Tip: Use our risk communication best practices checklist and our prescribed burn risk communication checklist for guidance on selecting appropriate channels, or what to say in messages if, instead of using our templates and messaging, you would like to develop your own. |
| Notification plans | Disseminate your messages based on the planning your stated goals and safety/contingency plans. |
Engaging Media to help Amplify Messages
Ahead of prescribed burn season, any media organizations fire management teams have established relationships with that can reach residents in impacted zip codes should be notified when there are potential dates or timeframes for prescribed burns. This will give them advance notice about prescribed burns so they can prepare to fit these into news segments or plan to post about them on their websites or on social media. Once a burn is confirmed, fire management teams can notify media outlets the burn will proceed as scheduled to give them advance notice about prescribed burns that will be happening.