East Central Reporter

Effingham Fire District responded to 311 calls in 2018 - 1.6 percent more than the previous year, according to data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System.

The calls in Effingham included 87 fires - 60 structure fires, 15 vehicle fires and 12 other fires. The fire department also responded to 12 calls for ruptures, explosions or overheating.

In all, the department saw $1,797,560 in fire loss - or about $20,662 per fire.

The department also received 212 false calls, including four malicious calls and 208 other false calls.

The calls resulted in one civilian fire-related injury. Additionally, two fire service members were injured in fire-related incidents.

The Effingham Firefighters Pension Fund, which has 17 active employees and 17 retired or inactive employees, was $159,886 in debt as of April 2017, according to the fund's mandated filings with the Illinois Department of Insurance. That amounts to $1,403 for every fire in 2017.

	2017	2018	Year-over-year change (%)
Building Fires	68	60	-11.8
Vehicle Fires	17	15	-11.8
Other Fires	29	12	-58.6
Total Fires	114	87	-23.7
Total Calls	306	311	1.6