West Central Reporter

Macomb Fire Department responded to 319 calls in 2017 - 9.6 percent more than the previous year, according to data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System.

The calls in Macomb included 73 fires - 34 structure fires, four vehicle fires and 35 other fires. The fire department also responded to six calls for ruptures, explosions or overheating.

In all, the department saw $277,609 in fire loss - or about $3,803 per fire.

The department also received 240 false calls, including eight malicious calls and 232 other false calls.

The Macomb Firefighters Pension Fund, which has 19 active employees and 29 retired or inactive employees, was $1,263,890 in debt as of April 2016, according to the fund's mandated filings with the Illinois Department of Insurance. That amounts to $31,597 for every fire in 2016.

	2016	2017	Year-over-year change (%)
Structure Fires	21	34	61.9
Vehicle Fires	3	4	33.3
Other fires	16	35	118.8
Total Fires	40	73	82.5
Total Calls	291	319	9.6