TWIN FALLS - Thanks to the Twin Falls Fire Department, the city has saved more than $16.2 million from going up in flames.

The fire department released its annual report for 2006 on Wednesday, which estimated that there was about $1.8 million in fire damage in the city last year.

Most residential, commercial and hotel fires were doused by firefighters before the property became a total loss. And there were fewer residential fires in 2006 than the year before - 17 fires last year compared to 24 in 2005.

"In the fire department there is no such thing as a normal year," said Ron Clark, the department's fire chief. "You just don't know if the numbers will be up or down."

The agency responded to more than 2,160 calls in 2006, which is down from 2,627 incidents the year before.

However, the estimated cost of property lost to fire damage increased between 2005 and 2006 by more than $400,000.

There were also some surprising figures about safety in Twin Falls.

For example, the fire department responded to more than 770 vehicle accidents last year, which seemed a little high for town of about 35,000 people.

But Clark said that was actually an improvement.

"Yeah, that number has actually gone down, because we had 1,187 the year before," he said.

The fire department will grow a little this year with the addition of more personnel.

It will hire three more firefighters in order to man a station at the Twin Falls airport as part of new federal requirements. The federal government, however, will not be paying the bill.

And, if you're wondering, yes, there was one animal rescue last year â€-quot; a statistic that proves the fire department is still a part of a small community.

Times-News writer Joshua Palmer covers education. He can be reached at jpalmer@magicvalley.com or at (208) 420-0526.