Months after a historic building burns to the ground, the El Paso Fire Department looks for ways to prevent it from happening to another building. 

Over the course of six weeks, the fire department assessed the risk of a fire in more than 700 downtown buildings. Drozd went before City Council on Tuesday to address the fire department's findings. Some of the main issues they found when evaluation buildings included structural issues and deterioration as well as wiring and storage issues. 

"What we found is that 52 percent of buildings in downtown El Paso are at some form of risk," said Otto Drozd, the fire chief. 

Some of the problems the fire department encountered included structural detrition, maintenance problems, dangerous storage, wiring and electrical issues and blocked exits. Drozd said some of them were a fire waiting to happen. A fire at the John Wesley Hardin building in April destroyed a building that had been in the heart of the city since the 1880s. The building had once been the first national bank and a law office. 

"Part of our downtown is that a lot of the buildings were built a long time ago, and you know how they say things aren't built like they used to" said Drozd. "Well, downtown is built very well but a lot of those building practices have deteriorated over time because of the age or because of neglect." 

Buildings that not only pose a serious safety risk for occupants but also for firefighters that could potentially be responding to those structures. 
"A firefighter could fall very easily through one of these man traps that are inherent throughout some of these buildings," said Drozd. 

The numbers shocked City Council representatives. "It scared me, to me that's unacceptable and something that puts our community at risk and that is something that we just can't tolerate," said Cortney Niland, Representative of District 8. Most of the buildings are in her district. 
Niland said as a City Council, it can't stand for it and the No. 1 priority should be the safety of the residents in El Paso. 

The department presented a series of recommendations to the council and will work with downtown businesses and tenants to make the buildings safer. Drozd said one recommendation includes annual inspections. 

"We have some base recommendations that center around the ability to get us into every one of these occupancies on an annual basis. So that everybody has a good understanding of what the expectations are because a lot of it is because we haven't been in these buildings for quite some time," said Drozd. 

"What we want to do is not only educate the public, the business community, on what the requirements are but open up the lines of communication so they know that the expectations are so it doesn't get to the point it is currently," Drozd added. 

Niland said she expects some resistance from business owners. 

The fire department and the City Council plan to spend the next few months working with business owners and occupants in the downtown area to ensure the safety of all of the buildings.