Public Participation in Wildfire Rescue and Management: A Case Study from Chongqing, China

Abstract

In 2019, the Chinese government put forward the concept of social co-governance in the field of emergency management. This paper discusses whether the adjustment in the governance concept promotes public participation in emergency management practices and what the mechanisms are to achieve successful public participation in a wildfire emergency. Taking the Beibei wildfire in Chongqing in 2022 as a study case, this paper establishes the public participation mechanisms for wildfire rescue and management with a qualitative case study method. The result shows that adjustments to emergency management concepts and the pressure of wildfire governance make local governments and commanders seek help from the public; key persons and informal networks play an important role in public participation in a wildfire emergency; and constructing social memory in social networks, whether government-led or public-organized, is an important way to enhance public participation in wildfire governance. Our findings, grounded in the reality of the growing complexity of wildfires, provide useful lessons for future wildfire governance in other provinces in China, as well as valuable references for other countries or regions.

1. Introduction

Wildfires caused by climate change are one of the major global problems currently facing humankind. A warming climate and an abnormal climate, such as conditions brought on by El Niño and the Indian Ocean Dipole, will lead to a longer period of drought in many countries and regions in the world [1]. As rainfall decreases and temperatures rise in these areas, wildfires are likely to increase significantly, with more severe consequences [2]. In the USA, the natural fire occurrence is increasing during drought periods [3]. The record-breaking fire weather in North America in 2021 was initiated by the Pacific northwest heat dome and was 59% longer and 34% larger and had a 6% higher maximum amplitude than the same event would have had been without a warming climate [4]. It is well known that Mediterranean summer weather conditions (prolonged drought periods, high temperatures, and strong winds) play a significant role in the fire regimes in the Mediterranean region [5]. Because of the warming climate and an average one-week extension of the fire season, most countries in Europe face up to a tenfold increase in extreme fires in the forthcoming decades [6]. China faces the same problem. According to the Ministry of Emergency Management of the People’s Republic of China, 503 forest fires occurred in the six southern provinces (Hunan, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Hubei, Guangdong, and Chongqing) in 2022 due to the temperatures and drought, accounting for 71% of the total forest fires [7]. More worrisome, wildfires are predicted to become more frequent, extreme, and devastating in the future [8].

Drought acts as the trigger for fire occurrence, but it is humans who ignite the fires [1]. Although the biophysical and social drivers of wildfires are complex, anthropogenic forcing has exacerbated drought and fire risks [9]. Anthropogenic climate warming, change in land use and management, and rapid peri-urban development are all factors contributing to landscape flammability and fire impact [10,11]. Historical data for the southern Amazon and the Pantanal region demonstrate that changes in land and increased population density can significantly increase the incidence of forest fires [9]. Therefore, it can be said that the edges of wildland–urban interfaces (WUIs) are shown to be among the most susceptible areas to wildfires [12]. Despite enormous investments in wildfire response and suppression, recent wildfires have claimed hundreds of lives, disrupted ecosystems, and overwhelmed disaster management agencies in countries around the world [13].

Faced with severe wildfire situations, traditional wildfire governance is gradually showing drawbacks. As a result, many countries are exploring new ways to fight and manage wildfires. For example, the Greek political structure is based on a strong centralized government system and has featured a strong emphasis on national-level control of fire management policies and practices in the past, whereas a comparison of wildfire management on three Greek islands shows that volunteer groups constitute an important mechanism for improving interactions across local, regional, and national firefighting organizations while protecting local values, socio-economic practices, and knowledge [14]. The concept of emergency management governance in China has also changed. In recent years, the Chinese government has proposed “strengthening the people’s defense line for disaster prevention, mitigation and rescue” and advocated “social co-governance” which means utilizing the public’s power in emergency management. Although the forest area ranks fifth in the world and lots of forests are located at wildland–urban interfaces, China has made great achievements in wildfire prevention compared with 30 years ago: the incidence of forest fires has been controlled below 2000 per year, and the damage rate has been maintained at an extremely low level (<0.5‰) in recent years [15].

The achievements of wildfire governance in China are worth studying. The Beibei wildfire in Chongqing, China, in August 2022 provides us with an opportunity to observe the transformation of wildfire governance in China. During the Beibei wildfire, thousands of volunteers participated in the delivery of supplies, cutting down trees to form a quarantine zone, and extinguishing the fire. This is different from the traditional approach of forest fire rescue and management in which the government is solely responsible. Therefore, the research question is what are the mechanisms to achieve successful public participation in a wildfire emergency? Hence, this paper makes a case study of the Beibei wildfire incident to explore how the concept of wildfire governance in China has changed and how the public can participate in wildfire rescue and management.

Through a theoretical discussion of the relevant literature, such as adaptive governance, co-governance, and informal networks, this article establishes mechanisms for public participation in wildfire rescue and management. Specifically, the shift in the concept of national emergency management has eliminated subjective political concerns for local governments to broaden multi-level governance bodies. The surge of governance pressure caused by objective environmental changes has forced local governments to seek help from the public. Key persons and informal networks play vital roles in public participation in wildfire rescue and management. Constructing social memory in social networks, whether government-led or public-organized, is an important way to enhance public participation in wildfire governance. Our findings, grounded in the reality of the growing complexity of wildfires, both biophysically and socio-politically, provide useful lessons for future wildfire governance in other provinces in China, as well as valuable references for other countries or regions.

2. Study Site and Research

2.1. Study Site

Chongqing is in the southwest of China and covers an area of 82,400 square kilometers. The main urban areas of Chongqing lie in synclinal valleys between parallel mountains, and most of the mountains are less than 1000 m high and vary in length from tens to hundreds of kilometers. Although Chongqing does not have an entire plain, the valleys between the mountains, which are 10 to 30 km wide, are still suitable for population gathering and living. Beibei District is one of the nine main urban districts of Chongqing with a total area of 755 square kilometers. In 2022, the permanent population of Beibei District was 840,000 with an urbanization rate of 87.57%. In 2022, the forest area of Chongqing was about 45000 km² (68 million mu), and the forest coverage rate was 55.04%. The forest area of Beibei District is about 400 km² (598,800 mu), including economic forests and trees around roads, ditches, canals, and houses. A total of 80% of these plants are flammable. In addition, there are a lot of flammable coal gangue minerals in the mountains of Chongqing.

Described as “burning furnace”, Chongqing is one of the hottest cities in China. Chongqing belongs to the subtropical monsoon humid climate. In summer, the southeast monsoon blowing from the Pacific Ocean and the southwest monsoon blowing from the Indian Ocean are blocked by the tall and parallel mountains around the Sichuan Basin, and it is difficult to bring cool wind to Chongqing located in the basin. Even if there is a chance to cross the mountain and sink down into the basin, the wind will absorb heat in the process, causing water vapor to evaporate and the air temperature to rise to form the dry hot fohn, which exacerbates the high temperatures. Due to its special geographical location and climate, Chongqing often experiences extreme high temperatures and drought in summer, which increases the probability of wildfires. According to statistics, 81 forest fires occurred in Chongqing in July and August from 2008 to 2021, with an average of 5.8 forest fires per year.

In 2022, the continuous high temperatures and rainless weather in Chongqing was particularly serious: the extreme hot weather above 35 °C lasted for 39 days, and the highest temperature reached 45 °C. Both the highest temperature and the average temperature of this summer are the highest ever recorded in Chongqing with complete meteorological data. When the wildfire broke out in Beibei District on August 21, the highest temperature observed by the weather station reached 44.6 °C, setting a record for the highest temperature in Chongqing. The Beibei wildfire was caused by spontaneous combustion after phosphine overflow in the tomb area. Fire ignited at the surface and quickly burned up to the canopy due to the drying trees. With the help of the wind and the formation of flying fires, the fire spread over a large area in a short time. During the Beibei wildfire in Chongqing, China, in August 2022 (Figure 1), thousands of volunteers participated in fire rescue and management, which provides us with an opportunity to observe the transformation of wildfire governance in China.

2.2. Research Approach

The aim of this study was to explore the mechanisms of public participation in forest fire rescue and management and to assess if these mechanisms are operationalized in the Beibei wildfire event in 2022. Given the complexity of wildfire governance at the wildland–urban interfaces, a qualitative case study methodology was employed. The qualitative approach allows the researcher to examine ‘how and why’ questions associated with societal problems and the measures that are adopted to address them [16]. Case studies are particularly appropriate for exploratory research, as they can provide a deeper understanding into the complex interactions between different actors [17]. Based on a review of the academic literature on governance theories such as adaptive governance and co-governance [14,18,19,20,21,22,23], 10 semi-structured interviews were conducted with fire department staff and volunteers involved in Beibei wildfire governance. The interview guide can be seen in Appendix A. Interviewees were selected using a purposive and snowballing recruitment method with the intention of gaining representatives who play different roles in the event.

The interviews were cross-verified with news reports and material on social media. To protect the interviewees from being specifically identified, names and specific job position titles were omitted. The small sample size and limited number of interviewees are acknowledged as a key limitation of this study.

3. Adaptive Governance

Over the last decade, a growing body of literature has sought to understand wildfire occurrence and management using different governance theories, including adaptive, collaborative, and multi-level, networks and participatory approaches to governing wildfires. Although the boundaries between these concepts are not always clear and they overlap sometimes, a key theme picked up in the wildfire literature is the theory of adaptive governance [13]. Adaptive governance is presented as a transformative, flexible, and multi-level governance model aimed at building socioecological resilience [18]. It deals with the complexity of social-ecological systems and is a response to the increased need to develop new governance arrangements that can deal effectively with uncertainty and changing conditions [19]. Facing increasingly complex emergency response and management needs for wildfires, centralized governance via top-down directives or command-and-control policies cannot match the increasing demands and often fails to provide effective solutions for highly contextualized situations, such as wildfires that occur at the edges of wildland–urban interfaces [20,21]. In response, local governments use their discretion to explore bottom-up approaches to governance as a complement to top-down governance schemes. For example, US federal wildland fire policy provides considerable discretion for managers to pursue a range of management objectives [10]. Also, the shift of bushfire management in Australia in recent years shows that while statutory responsibility remains with the state, with federal government support and guidance, contemporary bushfire risk management is increasingly considered a shared responsibility between multiple governance bodies, including various government agencies, private businesses, community organizations, individuals, and households [22]. In 2019, the Chinese government put forward the concept of social co-governance in the field of emergency management. It provides a political foundation for local governments to explore an emergency management system involving multiple actor groups, including NGOs, private enterprises, and the public. Furthermore, in the face of particularly serious natural disasters or accident disasters, the professionals organized by the government cannot meet the actual needs of the disaster site. As a result, there are many cases of public participation in rescue operations. For example, in the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan Province and the snow and ice disaster in southern China, lots of volunteers went to the disaster scene to provide support. In China, only nine provinces had established forest fire and rescue brigades by 2023. Forest fire management has been faced with a shortage of managers and firefighters. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt the concept of adaptive governance and introduce multi-agents into forest fire management. And this is the concept of social co-governance proposed by the Chinese government. Therefore, we proposed the following hypothesis:

H1a: 

The adjustment of governance concept is the premise of public participation in wildfire rescue and management.

H1b: 

Governance pressure on local governments is a prerequisite for public participation in wildfire rescue and management.

In adaptive governance, there are three key social connectors between ecosystems and governance systems: (1) individual actors with leadership; (2) coordinating actors across a multi-level governance system through networks; and (3) activating social memory stored in social networks [23]. The individual actors with leadership can be seen as key persons, who provide leadership, trust, vision, and meaning, and have chances to build “bridges” from current governance structures [24]. Due to formal working relationships or personal friendships, key persons can establish contact with emergency management leaders before or during an incident to inquire about the status of the emergency event and rescue needs. They act as a link between formal and informal networks, providing an opportunity for the public to participate in emergency management. Networks play an important role in government governance, and research on collective action revealed that effective governance needs dense and intimate networks [25]. In this article, the formal networks refer to interactions between different government departments, while informal networks include individual social networks and networks between communities. In adaptive governance systems, networks which connect individuals and organizations across multiple levels and scales are required [24]. Typically, these networks are often self-organized, with teams and actor groups participating in governance using a variety of knowledge and experience [25]. In the process of participating in governance, functioning networks can support enhanced learning, allowing for efficient resource use and sharing, and can increase the capacity to respond to complex problems. Furthermore, networks facilitate the communication and integration of both scientific and local knowledge and also serve to encourage diversity and mobilize social capital [24,26]. In these ways, formal and informal networks generate or enhance more resilient and adaptive ways of emergency management. Based on the above analysis, we believe that

H2a: 

Key persons who connect formal and informal networks are the starting point for public engagement in wildfire rescue and management.

H2b: 

Dense and intimate informal networks are the social basis for large public participation in wildfire rescue and management.

In the broadest sense, successful adaptation requires institutions to guide the process of change [27]. Formal recognition was critical to ensuring legitimacy for the new governance model as each organization was then able to serve more effectively in a bridging function among actors, networks, and other organizations [28]. Theoretically, an adaptive governance system requires a structure of nested institutions and institutional diversity at the local, regional, and state levels, connected by formal and informal social networks [25]. However, organizations often have a long history and established culture and prior political relationships and responsibilities and operate under a rigid set of social norms [18]. Until now, building “bridges” from current governance structures and overcoming legal and institutional “barriers” are still the two major challenges in the transition of the governance system [29]. Although the institutionalization of social co-governance is difficult to achieve at present, the social memory stored in social networks can promote public participation in the governance system [23]. The government’s response is a form of constructing social memory. A positive response to public participation in governance can be seen as a recognition of collective behavior. The public will also form deeper personal social memories during the process of wildfire rescue and management. Furthermore, the government response deepens the social network memories formed by the public during the participation process, while inspiring others to actively participate in emergency response when faced with similar situations. Therefore, we hypothesize that

H3a: 

Active government responses can construct social memory and increase the possibility of public participation in wildfire rescue and management.

H3b: 

The experience of participating in co-governance can construct social memories and promote the possibility of continued public participation in wildfire rescue and management.

4. Public Participation in Beibei Wildfire

4.1. Social Co-Governance and Governance Pressure

In international disaster policy, a multi-level governance system is seen as pivotal to building disaster resilience [22]. And the polycentric arrangements in disaster management are essential as they enable a level of self-organization and flexibility necessary during and after a disaster event [30]. In China, nine provinces had established forest fire and rescue brigade by 2023. When a large-scale wildfire occurs in the province without a forest fire and rescue team, these nine provinces are needed to support firefighting. This cross-regional and polycentric forest fire management model, described as “based on the local, radiating the surrounding area, and supporting the whole country”, is regular in wildfire governance in China. However, the supporting teams will face some difficulties in wildfire response because different climatic conditions and unfamiliar geographical environments put additional pressure on firefighters, and the supported areas may lack adequate supplies and personnel support.

Chongqing does not have a forest fire and rescue brigade, and the response to the Beibei wildfire in August 2022 faced many difficulties. On the one hand, changes in the physical environment, such as drought and mountains, created many difficulties for firefighting and rescue: (1) dry trees and flying fires greatly increased the uncertainty of wildfires, posing a serious threat to firefighter safety; (2) the decrease in river water due to high temperatures and drought led to a shortage of water around the fire site; (3) the special terrain of the fire site (high mountains, steep slopes, sharp bends, crisscrossing valleys, and dense vegetation) made it difficult for people and equipment to pass; (4) working in high temperatures is a great strain on the physical strength of firefighters. On the other hand, the resources and manpower at the scene of the wildfire were insufficient. As the firefighters said: “[We are] short of drinking water, medicine, chainsaws, fire extinguishers, fire-fighting tools and so on.” “There is an urgent need for chainsaws and volunteers skilled in using them.” Faced with such difficulties, the commander saw the rescue operation as a more diverse collective effort and began to seek help from the local government and the public.

For the public, protecting their hometown was the most important reason to participate in wildfire rescue. When asked why they participated in the wildfire rescue operation, even though they knew there would be great risks, the most common answers were “I am a ‘Chongqing child’, who will come if I don’t come.” and “This is my hometown, if I don’t save it, who will?” One interviewee said, “Jinyun Mountain is on fire, as Chongqing people, how can we stand by and just watch? Besides, the mountain road is difficult to walk, and now is the time for motorcyclists to come forward. We must go to the scene.” These words sum up the feelings of all the volunteers who took part in the rescue as motorcycle riders. Another volunteer said, “After learning that the wildfire broke out, I wanted to help put out the fire, but the fire-fighting activities are very professional, and I was worried that when I arrived at the scene, it was not to help but to add chaos. I couldn’t sleep all night because I kept thinking about the fire. I felt I had to do something the next day.” Therefore, when they learned about the shortage of resources and the recruitment of volunteers, many members of the public rushed to the scene as volunteers or volunteered to buy supplies and send them to the assembly site.

Under the influence of the concept of social co-governance, we can see that in the Beibei wildfire incident, some departments set up special volunteer recruitment places to recruit manpower from society through various ways. And the local government departments or street bureaucrats have the ability to sort volunteers according to their professional skills, appoint suitable temporary leaders, and assign tasks. At the same time, the public actively participated in various rescue activities as volunteers or spontaneously purchased the needed supplies.

4.2. Key Persons and Informal Networks

Influential individuals play an important role as social connectors, and dense and intimate networks guarantee the efficiency of collective action. One volunteer in the Beibei wildfire event had performed community service and volunteer work for a long time. In the early stages of the wildfire, he used personal connections to contact street bureaucrats of the Xiema Street Office in Beibei District. He not only bought a lot of supplies and delivered them to the assembly site, but also used the personal social networking app, WeChat (Version 8.0.27), to help the Xiema Street Office collect supplies and recruit volunteers. WeChat, an indispensable network communication software for the Chinese people, has established a powerful informal social network for office or personal use. On August 21, when the Xiema Street Office in Beibei District appealed to the public for help, the WeChat groups became the quickest way to convey messages. Early in the morning of August 22, the residents of Chongqing were bombarded by various calls for help on WeChat. When the group owner posted “We are short of drinking water and energy drinks” in the WeChat group, water was delivered to the Street Office in 10 min. When an announcement was made that “we are short of medicine”, 5 min later, medicine was provided. When it came to recruiting volunteers, a sufficient number of volunteers responded within 30 s.

Another key person in the Beibei wildfire is a motorcycle instructor. As a motorcycle enthusiast, he usually posts some motorcycle videos on the Internet and has more than 300,000 fans on Internet platforms such as Douyin (Version 21.9.0) and Kuaishou (Version 10.7.30.27161). As soon as he knew the wildfire had broken out, he immediately summoned several nearby motorcycle riders to deliver supplies to firefighters. As one of the first motorcycle riders to volunteer, he reached out to the police in charge of traffic. Therefore, he had the opportunity to receive a call for help from the traffic police on August 22, “The mountain road is too steep, it is difficult for cars to pass, can you call more motorcycle riders to transport supplies?” The motorcyclist then recorded a short video of the wildfire scene, in which he said, “Please come to Beibei and use your motorcycle to deliver supplies to fight the fire,” and posted it on his media platforms to summon motorcycle riders to help. Less than an hour after the video was posted, one motorcycle rider after another rushed to the fire site, and soon, more than 500 motorcycle riders were gathered. Within 24 h of the video’s release, the number of views exceeded 500,000, and many people messaged him to sign up as volunteers. As the wildfire intensified, people were unable to keep up with the rescue demand. Anxious, he posted another recruitment video on the social platforms on 23 August. Surprisingly, the video was viewed more than 5 million times in about an hour. Motorcycle riders from Sichuan, Wuhan, Guangdong, and other provinces in China had been calling him to volunteer. Considering the distance, he eventually organized more than 1000 motorcycle riders from the surrounding counties and provinces.

Key persons use professional or personal relationships to establish links between formal and informal networks, while they can use the personal influence built up in social networks to mobilize public participation in action. The total number of playbacks of the videos calling for motorcycle riders on the Internet platforms exceeded 17 million. Most of the riders that came had responded to the videos. This motorcycle volunteer group, which mainly consisted of professional road testers, motorcycle enthusiasts, food delivery drivers, and young adult students, played an important role in the Beibei wildfire rescue. They opened routes for the transfer of supplies and personnel. According to incomplete statistics, during the 5 days of the wildfire, the riders not only transported more than 4000 boxes of drinkable water, 3000 meals, and 100 boxes of medicine and a lot of ice, but also helped more than 100 firefighters and transported hundreds of special heavy fire extinguishers to the wildfire site.

Eventually, a formal network organized by the government and an informal network of public participation led by key persons worked together to put out the Beibei wildfire in the early hours of August 26.

4.3. Construct Social Memory

Activating social memory stored in social networks is one of the key social bonds in adaptive governance [23]. Before that happens, however, building social memories is the first step. After the Beibei wildfire, both government-led and spontaneous public-organized ways of constructing social memories existed. In January 2023, the Communist Youth League of Chongqing Beibei District Committee produced commemorative medals and donation certificates to the volunteers who participated in the wildfire rescue and the caring public who donated money or resources. The full name of the medal is “8.21 Xiema Mountain Fire Rescue Volunteer Service Commemorative Medal” and the front of it shows three figures, a motorcycle rider, a chainsaw operator, and a volunteer carrying a fire extinguisher, with the fire in front of them and the green mountains behind them, as shown in Figure 2. The medals and certificates are used to pay tribute to the volunteers who made heroic contributions to the Beibei wildfire incident and to commemorate the spirit of mutual help, selfless dedication, and fighting fire together.

The social memories spontaneously formed by the public are more varied and profound. First, wildfire shapes the public’s perception of environmental change and their cohesion in dealing with disasters. Second, recovery efforts, such as cleaning up the debris from the wildfire and replanting trees, continue to strengthen social memory. After the wildfire, a volunteer and his friends planned to build a trail to the ignition site which they wanted to call the “Ant Trail”. He explained: “I used to hear people talk about climate change, and I didn’t feel special. But after last summer, it became clear to me that the effects of climate change were really all around me. There is a popular nursery rhyme in Chongqing called ‘Ant’. I think we Chongqing people just like ants, although everyone is a small individual, but in front of the mountain fire, these individuals completely melt together, like a corps, it is these ants blocked the mountain fire, and finally put out the mountain fire. After the trail is built, people can walk along it and recall their memories of the wildfire that happened here.”

In addition, special experiences can form unique social memories. The supporting firefighter said in surprise: “In so many places we support, we put out the fires ourselves. Only here in Chongqing, for the first time, there are so many volunteers to help us without sleeping, (we) have whatever resources we need, and even eat ice cream at the scene of the fire for the first time. … I think that is why Chongqing is called a hero city.”

Constructing social memory in social networks is an important step for public participation in emergency management. The experience of orderly and successful public participation can promote the institutionalization of multi-level stakeholder participation in emergency management. In addition, these successful experiences stored in the social memory can build public confidence and inspire the public to stand up again in the face of emergencies.

5. Results: Public Participation Mechanisms

The interviewed firefighters all made it clear that they understood the concept of social co-governance or related cases before the Beibei wildfire. Although some street bureaucrats said they had not previously understood the concept of social co-governance, they were able to quickly understand the need to fight the Beibei wildfire when they received orders to recruit volunteers or collect supplies during the fire. This relieves them of the psychological burden and administrative accountability in releasing relevant information and mobilizing the public. Therefore, the hypothesis of H1a is verified: the adjustment of the governance concept before or during the wildfire is the premise of public participation in wildfire rescue and management.

Even though firefighters from several provinces were dispatched to the scene of the wildfire, firefighters and local authorities still faced great difficulties in putting out the wildfire in time. The burning wildfire was clearly visibly. Supervision from the central government and public concern had put pressure on the local government to control the spread of the wildfire as soon as possible. Therefore, they hoped to mobilize the public to participate in wildfire management under the premise of safety. Therefore, H1b is verified: governance pressure brough about by the wildfire on local governments is a prerequisite for public participation in wildfire rescue and management. However, the pressure on the local government comes not only from the difficulty of extinguishing the wildfire, but also from the supervision of the higher government and the discussion of the public.

One firefighter said the volunteer he initially connected with played an important role, gaining his trust by helping him communicate the need for reinforcements and gathering large numbers of volunteers. These experiences led him to believe that social co-governance could be achieved in wildfire management. Street bureaucrats, who connect formal and informal networks, said the contacts they build with residents help them find volunteers quickly. Some volunteers were summoned by street bureaucrats, while others learned about recruitment through the Internet. Informal networks, built by street bureaucrats or spread by networks, played a crucial role in mobilizing the public. H2a and H2b are verified: key persons who connect formal and informal networks are the starting point for public engagement in wildfire governance, and informal networks are the social basis for large public participation in wildfire rescue and management.

The volunteers said they were thrilled to receive the government medal, as it was a recognition and reward for their contributions in the Beibei wildfire rescue and management efforts. Furthermore, many of their friends envied them for receiving the medal. If faced with a similar situation, volunteers said they, including their friends, would be willing to participate in emergency management. Therefore, hypothesis H3a is verified: active government responses can construct social memory and increase the possibility of public participation in wildfire rescue and management.

The successful experience convinced the volunteers that wildfire rescue was not as dangerous as they had feared. At the same time, they think it is meaningful to clean up the debris, replant trees, and participate in some memorial activities after the wildfire. The experience of fighting the Beibei wildfire has become a daily communication topic among the local people. H3b is verified: the experience of participating in co-governance can construct social memories and promote the possibility of continued public participation in wildfire governance.

Through the case study, public participation mechanisms were operationalized in the Beibei wildfire incident (Figure 3). Under the influence of the concept of social co-governance, the local government does not have to worry about political obstacles and has no ideological burden. Therefore, when faced with the huge pressure of disaster rescue and management, local governments and commanders want to seek help from the public. The first step is to establish links between formal and informal networks, in which key persons play an important role due to their professional or personal relationships. The influence of key persons is rapidly amplified in dense and intimate informal networks, facilitating a broad response from the public. After the fire, the government’s positive response and the public’s self-organized recovery activities are two ways to build social memory in networks. All our hypotheses have been verified, and mechanisms to achieve successful public participation in a wildfire emergency have been built.

6. Discussion

The risk of wildfires is increasingly presented as a collective action problem which is most effectively addressed through a shared responsibility approach [31]. The multiple responsible governance bodies should include various government agencies, private businesses, community organizations, individuals, and households [22,32]. Wildfire risk management still mainly relies on the government in China. However, in the Beibei wildfire event, we saw different levels of actors participate in disaster response and post-disaster recovery. This success case shows that the public can participate in emergency wildfire fighting and daily forest management. Developing flexible policies and practices that apportion responsibility and resources appropriately among the national, regional, and prefecture levels could improve wildfire governance. How to incorporate more actors into the wildfire governance system to share responsibility and reduce the financial pressure of the government is an important issue in the future.

Constructing social memory is the premise of activating social memory stored in social networks. Social memory can be constructed by different subjects in a variety of ways. The experience of participating in social governance can help the public understand their government. At the same time, the participation of multi-level bodies in social governance increases the transparency of government administration. These social memories stored in social networks can strengthen public trust in government.

However, the public’s participation in the Beibei wildfire event has exposed some problems. One of them is “oversaturation” whereby the relief materials collected in the Beibei wildfire accident exceeded the actual needs. Excessive diffusion of information or lagging communication in informal networks contributes to this phenomenon. To protect their hometown, local people want to make their own contributions, so there will be multiple people doing the same thing at the same time, which eventually leads to excessive and duplicate resources. Therefore, the information transmission mechanism in the informal networks needs to be established and strengthened to ensure the orderly participation of the public. Another issue is the standardization and institutionalization of public participation in governance. While established reciprocity and cooperation may sometimes exist between volunteers and professionals, these interactions do not appear sufficiently regularized to achieve institutional status [14]. Establishing a working system for multi-level actors participating in wildfire risk management is an issue worth discussing in China.

Public participation mechanisms are constructed under the guidance of adaptive governance theory. The practice and conceptualization of wildfire social co-governance have enriched the applicable scope of the adaptive governance system. However, the mechanisms established in this paper are based on the specific situation of the Beibei wildfire, and its popularization is worth discussing. The tasks and management objectives of different disasters are different; for example, the main tasks of earthquake disasters involve search and rescue and treating the injured, while the management of flood disasters involves flood control, flood discharge, and search and rescue. However, responses to different disasters have the same requirements: the joint action by multiple actors, provision of resources for daily life, etc. Therefore, the public participation mechanisms are still applicable to other disasters. Climate change has increased the impact of disasters, especially wildfires, and coordinated governance across countries or regions has become common. The findings of this paper are based on cross-regional and multi-agent governance, which has a reference value for collaborative governance.

In summary, our findings indicate that the public constitutes an important mechanism for improving interactions across local, regional, and national firefighting organizations.

7. Conclusions

The Beibei wildfire case study identifies that in addition to formal collaborative mechanisms, informal networks also play an important role. Key persons and dense and intimate informal networks are the basis for positive interaction between formal and informal networks. First, key persons can establish connections between formal and informal networks, whether through formal work relationships or personal social relationships. Second, key figures with leadership and influence can use their social networks or online platforms to mobilize mass public participation in the governance system. It can be said that key persons are the starting point for public participation in wildfire rescue and management, and informal networks are the guarantee for tremendous public participation in governance. Interaction between formal and informal networks also facilitates the exchange and integration of scientific and local knowledge, encourages diversity of governance actors, and mobilizes social capital.

Fire-prone ecosystems cover about 40% of the Earth’s surface, and their management is crucial. The increased risk of wildfires due to climate change is a worldwide problem. Wildfire governance is under enormous pressure from increasing financial and personnel investments. Therefore, it is necessary to explore multiple levels of actors in wildfire management to share responsibility. Therefore, it is necessary to explore a new model for wildfire management with public participation to share the responsibility. The Chinese government has put forward the concept of social co-governance in the field of emergency management, which provides an opportunity for the transformation of wildfire governance in China. This paper uses qualitative research methods to explore the mechanism of public participation in wildfire rescue and management with the case of the Beibei Wildfire in Chongqing in 2022. The public participation mechanisms we found are as follows: (1) Subjectively, the adjustment and transformation of governance concepts have removed political obstacles for local governments to implement public participation in governance. Objectively, the unfamiliar environment and insufficient resources faced by cross-regional rescue forced commanders to seek help from the public; (2) Key persons and informal networks play an important role in public participation in wildfire rescue and management. As a “bridge” between formal and informal networks, key persons provide an opportunity for the public and dense and intimate informal networks make it possible for many members of the public to participate in governance; (3) Both government-led and public-organized activities are ways to build social memories stored in social networks that promote public participation in wildfire rescue and management. Although we use the Beibei wildfire in Chongqing as an example, the public participation mechanism established in this article is also applicable to other provinces in China. At the same time, it also has a reference value for other countries or regions in the world facing the pressure of wildfire governance. Furthermore, the public participation mechanism is also meaningful and valuable for the establishment of a co-governance system for other disasters, such as earthquakes and floods.