In the American West, wildfire seasons keep getting longer, hotter, and more destructive. But according to University of Alabama management professor Devin Stein, the key to reducing those losses may not lie with federal agencies, private fire crews, or insurance companies. Instead, it may come from neighbors, who are ordinary people armed with local knowledge and a willingness to work together.
Stein’s new research, “Distributed Knowledge and the Creation of Public Value: Community-Based Organizing and Wildfire Management in Northern California,” published in Academy of Management Journal, is drawn from a 20-year study of wildfire-prone communities in Northern California. It shows when residents get involved in prevention efforts, property losses go down. It’s not because communities fight the fires themselves, but because they understand something that outside experts often don’t: the everyday details of where they live.
Stein began this project after spending years out West and watching wildfires escalate. “You couldn’t point to any one actor—government, private firefighting, insurance—and say they were solving the problem,” he said. “We expanded the lens to look at communities as a whole.”
Historical data was gathered from 1998 to 2018, a period when modern community-led fire prevention started to take shape. The research tracks the spread of community fire plans, the strategies created by residents to reduce fuel, prepare for emergencies, and share crucial information. The clearest measure of success? Whether homes burned.
“Property loss is an objective indicator,” Stein said. “If houses aren’t burning down, something’s working.”
What stood out in the data wasn’t just the physical work like clearing brush, organizing “chipper days,” or creating firebreaks, but the hyper-local knowledge communities had. Residents knew the neighbor who always launched fireworks, the hidden homeless encampment up the canyon, the private roads chained behind gates, and even which homes had swimming pools firefighters could use as emergency water sources. None of this shows up in a federal database.
Stein cites one striking example from the Mattole Valley in Northern California. Several small communities there teamed up to create a detailed “firefighters atlas” listing back roads, unsafe bridges, reliable water sources, and more. “It helped firefighters respond faster and smarter when a fire hit,” he said.
Still, maintaining community engagement is hard. Many wildfire-prone areas are rural and aging, with fewer young volunteers able to devote time. But small populations can also be an advantage. Residents know one another, making it easier to organize.
Stein believes the lessons extend far beyond wildfires. Tornado-prone Alabama, hurricane-tested Louisiana, even communities grappling with healthcare gaps or school needs all benefit when locals stay engaged and share what they know.
“We assume information is easily accessible today,” Stein said. “But a lot of it isn’t. Knowing your neighbors still matters.”
His takeaway is simple. Government agencies should work with communities long before disaster hits, not just deliver one-size-fits-all plans. When professionals combine their expertise with the intimate knowledge of the people who live there, response becomes faster, smarter, and more effective.
“Communities aren’t just beneficiaries,” Stein said. “They’re part of the solution.”