Metro East Sun

Granite City Fire Department responded to 233 calls in 2017 - 150.5 percent more than the previous year, according to data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System.

The calls in Granite City included 131 fires - 38 structure fires, 10 vehicle fires and 83 other fires. The fire department also responded to six calls for ruptures, explosions or overheating.

In all, the department saw $1,508,350 in fire loss - or about $11,514 per fire.

The department also received 96 false calls, including one malicious call and 95 other false calls.

Three fire service members were injured in fire-related incidents and five were injured in non fire-related incidents.

The Granite City Firefighters Pension Fund C/O Gail Va, which has 53 active employees and 74 retired or inactive employees, was $3,330,845 in debt as of April 2016, according to the fund's mandated filings with the Illinois Department of Insurance. That amounts to $85,406 for every fire in 2016.

	2016	2017	Year-over-year change (%)
Structure Fires	11	38	245.5
Vehicle Fires	3	10	233.3
Other fires	25	83	232
Total Fires	39	131	235.9
Total Calls	93	233	150.5