Metro East Sun

Alton Fire Department responded to 321 calls in 2017 - 18.9 percent less than the previous year, according to data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System.

The calls in Alton included 131 fires - 72 structure fires, 14 vehicle fires and 45 other fires. The fire department also responded to two calls for ruptures, explosions or overheating.

In all, the department saw $568,940 in fire loss - or about $4,343 per fire.

The department also received 188 false calls, including three malicious calls and 185 other false calls.

The calls resulted in one civilian fire-related death. Additionally, one fire service member was injured in fire-related incidents.

	2016	2017	Year-over-year change (%)
Structure Fires	101	72	-28.7
Vehicle Fires	28	14	-50
Other fires	29	45	55.2
Total Fires	158	131	-17.1
Total Calls	396	321	-18.9