Metro East Sun

East Alton Fire District responded to 83 calls in 2018 - 21 percent less than the previous year, according to data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System.

The calls in East Alton included 49 fires - 31 structure fires, two vehicle fires and 16 other fires. The fire department also responded to seven calls for ruptures, explosions or overheating.

In all, the department saw $74,470 in fire loss - or about $1,520 per fire.

The department also received 27 false calls, including one malicious call and 26 other false calls.

The calls resulted in one civilian fire-related injury.

The East Alton Firefighters Pension Fund, which has seven active employees and 10 retired or inactive employees, was $172,430 in debt as of April 2017, according to the fund's mandated filings with the Illinois Department of Insurance. That amounts to $3,592 for every fire in 2017.

	2017	2018	Year-over-year change (%)
Building Fires	32	31	-3.1
Vehicle Fires	5	2	-60
Other Fires	11	16	45.5
Total Fires	48	49	2.1
Total Calls	105	83	-21