Metro East Sun

East Alton Fire Department responded to 92 calls in 2017 - 12.4 percent less than the previous year, according to data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System.

The calls in East Alton included 41 fires - 27 structure fires, four vehicle fires and 10 other fires. The fire department also responded to six calls for ruptures, explosions or overheating.

In all, the department saw $211,559 in fire loss - or about $5,160 per fire.

The department also received 45 false calls.

The East Alton Firefighters Pension Fund, which has seven active employees and nine retired or inactive employees, was $208,651 in debt as of April 2016, according to the fund's mandated filings with the Illinois Department of Insurance. That amounts to $4,439 for every fire in 2016.

	2016	2017	Year-over-year change (%)
Structure Fires	31	27	-12.9
Vehicle Fires	3	4	33.3
Other fires	13	10	-23.1
Total Fires	47	41	-12.8
Total Calls	105	92	-12.4