Can a Board Game Save Lives? UC Davis Professor Thinks So
Wildfire Board Game Prepares Community for Evacuations
"Despite increased awareness of the dangers of wildfires, an alarming number of Californians still aren’t prepared for them. Every year, we’re told to pack go bags, clear out the dried debris around our homes and to keep a full tank of gas when there’s a red flag warning, meaning the potential for fire is high. But how many of us actually do these things?
The community of Tomales, home to about 250 people, wanted their residents to be prepared in case of a fire. The small, coastal community has unique obstacles including its remoteness and limited resources. Though preventing or mitigating fires is key to keeping people safe, so is preparing them for wildfire evacuations.
But evacuations aren’t as simple as they sound and getting the whole community to do an evacuation drill isn’t exactly practical.
Thomas Maiorana, an associate professor of design at UC Davis, likes to think through complex problems and try to find practical solutions for them. He and colleagues from UC Davis, UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz decided one way to work through the complexities of a wildfire evacuate might be through a board game."