On 12 August 2000, a fire destroyed buildings around Macomb's downtown square. Ten fire units responded from McDoungh County to provide mutual aid for Macomb's fire department. The fire department believed the fire started in a second story apartment. It was hard to contain since it trapped between the roof and floor. In addition, numerous hoses where used throughout the day causing water pressure to be weak or even no water at times, allowing the fire to spread rapidly. After numerous hours of battling the blaze and having little progress, they made the decision to knock down the building. This left many residents and some of the business owners with nothing (eagle). I believe having a more detailed fire response zone, sprinkler systems installed in the buildings and the use of alternate firefighting material, such as foam or dry materials, could have minimized damage to the buildings.
             There are two factors that we must consider in developing our fire response zones. The two factors we must take into consideration are the structural fire risk and how to categorize fire structures from minimum to maximum. This is where the fire department is located and the resources it has to support that department. The fire department is able to respond to fires that are closed within the fire department and minimal resources when traveling a shorter distance, but when the fire department must respond to a fire that requires an additional amount of time and equipment due to the distance from the fire department there is a greater chance of losses. To fix this problem is to "assign each structure a risk level based on the demand that a pre-flashover fire will place on the fire department, and then determine if enough apparatus and firefighters can reach that location in a reasonable travel time" (creating fire response zones, par. 1). Now that the fire department has the information it needs the fire department must design the requirements and a...