Editing East St. Louis, Illinois (section)

===Fire department===
The city of East St. Louis is protected by 31 paid, professional city firefighters. They are organized into three divisions of operations: Administration, Firefighting/Hazard Mitigation, and Fire Prevention/Arson Investigation. The department operates from three fire stations in the city: Engine 422 at 17th St. and Lincoln Ave., Engine 425 and Ladder 419 at 17th St. and Central Ave., and Engine 426 at 72nd St. and State St. The Chief of Department is Jason Blackmon.<ref name="Welcome">{{cite web |url=http://www.cesl.us/subcategory.php?id=MjI= |title=:: Welcome to City of East St.Louis |publisher=Cesl.us |access-date=September 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130914100522/http://cesl.us/subcategory.php?id=MjI= |archive-date=September 14, 2013 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eslfire.com/#!services1/c8az |title= East St. Louis Fire Department|website=www.eslfire.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130704094018/http://www.eslfire.com/ |archive-date=July 4, 2013}}</ref>

The East St. Louis Fire Department has struggled to provide protection and service while having to undergo repeated budget cuts due to city problems. It laid off some 22 firefighters in May 2013. According to a National Fire Report, approximately 49 percent of all emergency calls the East St. Louis Fire Department responds to are structural fires.<ref name="Welcome" /><ref>{{cite web|author=American Military University |url=http://www.firerescue1.com/fire-department-management/articles/1417667-Video-East-St-Louis-Fire-Dept-showcases-budget-cut-challenges/ |title=Video: East St. Louis Fire Dept. showcases budget cut challenges |publisher=Firerescue1.com |date=March 12, 2013 |access-date=September 3, 2013}}</ref>