SE Illinois News

Harrisburg Fire Department responded to 99 calls in 2017 - 28.6 percent more than the previous year, according to data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System.

The calls in Harrisburg included 62 fires - 33 structure fires, six vehicle fires and 23 other fires.

In all, the department saw $108,500 in fire loss - or about $1,750 per fire.

The department also received 37 false calls, including one malicious call and 36 other false calls.

The Harrisburg Firefighters Pension Fund, which has seven active employees and six retired or inactive employees, was $138,484 in debt as of April 2016, according to the fund's mandated filings with the Illinois Department of Insurance. That amounts to $3,297 for every fire in 2016.

	2016	2017	Year-over-year change (%)
Structure Fires	19	33	73.7
Vehicle Fires	11	6	-45.5
Other fires	12	23	91.7
Total Fires	42	62	47.6
Total Calls	77	99	28.6