UC Santa Barbara

Firefighters in the United States operate in increasingly complex emergency environments, yet little is known about the spatial competencies that support effective navigation and spatial decision making in these high-stakes contexts. This dissertation investigates the cognitive and environmental factors influencing wayfinding and spatial performance in firefighters across three research studies. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, and primary data collection, I engaged with firefighters across the country, and in Santa Barbara County, California. In the first study I use mixed methods to build a foundational understanding of firefighter navigation training across the United States, and to elucidate what types of navigational aids firefighters use and in what ways. In the second study, I assess firefighters’ spatial abilities and self-reports of navigation behaviors, and compare those spatial abilities to the general public. In the final study, I develop and implement a novel assessment instrument to explore firefighters’ spatial decision making and cognitive maps. This research situates firefighter navigation within the broader landscape of cognitive and behavioral geography, empirically revealing how spatial knowledge, cognitive maps, and mapping technologies intersect to influence real world movement through high-stakes, dynamic environments, advancing both the geographic understanding of applied wayfinding and the spatial logistics of emergency response. The studies inform the development of navigation training principles that can be applied to emergency responders. Finally, they highlight deficiencies in the current digital spatial products available to firefighters. Findings from these studies can be used to develop standardized navigation training curricula and refine specialized navigational applications.