Safeguarding lives

An informational model for communicating wildfire disasters

Abstract

This theoretical article introduces an original model for planning and evaluating risk and crisis communication by public organizations in disasters, with a particular focus on wildfires. Adopting a systemic and integrative perspective, the Loop Model synthesizes knowledge from specialized literature and draws upon well-established scientific theories and models to highlight the critical role of communication throughout every stage of forest and wildfire management. Developed through an extensive literature review and applied to the chronological pattern of wildfires in Portugal, the framework demonstrates both theoretical relevance and practical applicability. It may also be adapted as a framework for evaluating and planning communication strategies and messages in response to other climate- and weather-related disasters. The proposed model yields the Informational Quality Indicator (IQI), designed to assess the quality of public organizations’ risk and crisis communication. A higher IQI value indicates that the communication prioritizes public protection over political reputation management. By advancing a comprehensive framework, this article contributes to the refinement of crisis and risk communication theory while offering practical guidance for public organizations facing disaster scenarios, which can be further tested in future research.