The problem was that the Salt Lake City Fire Department (SLCFD) did not have a comprehensive community risk evaluation system that could be compared with other cities. The purpose of this research was to develop a comprehensive community risk evaluation system that would allow the SLCFD to compare itself with other cities and to better target its community risk reduction efforts. The specific research questions addressed included: 1. What factors contribute to a community's fire risk? 2. How does the SLCFD compare with other cities on these factors? 3. How large a problem is arson in Salt Lake City compared to other cities? 4. How do the resources that Salt Lake City invests in fire protection compare with the resources invested by other communities? The research project used an evaluative research procedure to answer these questions. Data from the U.S.Census Bureau, the Uniform Crime Reports, and a national survey conducted by the Phoenix (Arizona) Fire Department were used to compile data on the 236 U.S. cities with a population greater than 100,000. This data was used to compute levels of risk for Salt Lake City relative to other communities. The results included above average scores for four of the nine community risk measures. Salt Lake City also consistently ranked in or near the top third of large cities for its arson rate. Salt Lake City had a very high investment in fire protection resources when resident population was used as the unit of analysis and a very low investment when land area and economic activities were considered.Recommendations included an aggressive public education campaign aimed at younger school age children, a focus on upgrading existing housing, added emphasis on arson control efforts, the institution of a program to address the needs of high risk populations, a standards of coverage analysis to assess response capabilities, and additional research using the National Fire Information Reporting System (NFIRS) on specific fire causes.