Illinois Valley Times

O'Ttawa Fire District responded to 203 calls in 2018 - 41.8 percent less than the previous year, according to data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System.

The calls in Ottawa included 39 fires - 12 structure fires, five vehicle fires and 22 other fires. The fire department also responded to six calls for ruptures, explosions or overheating.

In all, the department saw $136,800 in fire loss - or about $3,508 per fire.

The department also received 158 false calls, including one malicious call and 157 other false calls.

The Ottawa Firefighters Pension Fund, which has 29 active employees and 43 retired or inactive employees, was $525,351 in debt as of April 2017, according to the fund's mandated filings with the Illinois Department of Insurance. That amounts to $10,721 for every fire in 2017.

	2017	2018	Year-over-year change (%)
Building Fires	18	12	-33.3
Vehicle Fires	4	5	25
Other Fires	27	22	-18.5
Total Fires	49	39	-20.4
Total Calls	349	203	-41.8