The problem was the San Ramon Valley Fire District (District) does not consider a building's size or use when dispatching resources to a structure fire. The purpose of this research was to identify how the District could incorporate a building's size or use into its assignment of resources. Descriptive research methodology was used. Research questions investigated: (1) How peer agencies consider a buildings size or use when dispatching resources; (2) What building use and size classifications must be identified and the resources required by each; (3) What changes need to be made to SRVFD's computer aided dispatch system (CAD) to dispatch based on risk; and (4) What advantages or disadvantages are in matching resources dispatched to the buildings size or use. A questionnaire and four interviews were used to answer these questions.A literature review identified previous research in peer review, resource allocation by risk level, CAD, advantages, or disadvantages of risk based dispatching. The results showed the District's resource commitment to higher risk incidents is below both industry standards and those of its peers, most peers have multiple levels of dispatch, and the advantages of risk based dispatching are greater than the disadvantages. The research made a case to implement risk based dispatching using a standard and high-risk level.