Carbondale Reporter

Marion Fire Department responded to 297 calls in 2017 - 11.3 percent less than the previous year, according to data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System.

The calls in Marion included 113 fires - 38 structure fires, 17 vehicle fires and 58 other fires. The fire department also responded to two calls for ruptures, explosions or overheating.

In all, the department saw $1,101,850 in fire loss - or about $9,751 per fire.

The department also received 182 false calls, including four malicious calls and 178 other false calls.

The calls resulted in one civilian fire-related injury. Additionally, one fire service member was injured in fire-related incidents.

The Marion Firefighters Pension Fund, which has 25 active employees and 15 retired or inactive employees, was $463,188 in debt as of April 2016, according to the fund's mandated filings with the Illinois Department of Insurance. That amounts to $3,239 for every fire in 2016.

	2016	2017	Year-over-year change (%)
Structure Fires	56	38	-32.1
Vehicle Fires	16	17	6.2
Other fires	71	58	-18.3
Total Fires	143	113	-21
Total Calls	335	297	-11.3