Illinois Valley Times

Lasalle Fire Department responded to 70 calls in 2017 - 25.5 percent less than the previous year, according to data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System.

The calls in Lasalle included 33 fires - 23 structure fires, four vehicle fires and six other fires. The fire department also responded to two calls for ruptures, explosions or overheating.

In all, the department saw $369,400 in fire loss - or about $11,194 per fire.

The department also received 35 false calls.

The Lasalle Firefighters Pension Fund, which has four active employees and three retired or inactive employees, was $55,821 in debt as of April 2016, according to the fund's mandated filings with the Illinois Department of Insurance. That amounts to $1,240 for every fire in 2016.

	2016	2017	Year-over-year change (%)
Structure Fires	23	23	0
Vehicle Fires	4	4	0
Other fires	18	6	-66.7
Total Fires	45	33	-26.7
Total Calls	94	70	-25.5