South West Illinois News

Duquoin Fire District responded to 100 calls in 2018 - 17.6 percent more than the previous year, according to data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System.

The calls in Duquoin included 43 fires - 19 structure fires, six vehicle fires and 18 other fires. The fire department also responded to one call for ruptures, explosions or overheating.

In all, the department saw $429,000 in fire loss - or about $9,977 per fire.

The department also received 56 false calls, including one malicious call and 55 other false calls.

The Duquoin Firefighters Pension Fund, which has six active employees and 10 retired or inactive employees, was $63,565 in debt as of December 2017, according to the fund's mandated filings with the Illinois Department of Insurance. That amounts to $1,550 for every fire in 2017.

	2017	2018	Year-over-year change (%)
Building Fires	16	19	18.8
Vehicle Fires	3	6	100
Other Fires	22	18	-18.2
Total Fires	41	43	4.9
Total Calls	85	100	17.6