Lake County Gazette

North Chicago Fire Department responded to 223 calls in 2017 - 19.8 percent less than the previous year, according to data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System.

The calls in North Chicago included 61 fires - 37 structure fires, five vehicle fires and 19 other fires. The fire department also responded to five calls for ruptures, explosions or overheating.

In all, the department saw $142,135 in fire loss - or about $2,330 per fire.

The department also received 157 false calls, including 51 malicious calls and 106 other false calls.

The North Chicago Firefighters Pension Fund, which has 34 active employees and 41 retired or inactive employees, was $1,546,810 in debt as of April 2016, according to the fund's mandated filings with the Illinois Department of Insurance. That amounts to $20,624 for every fire in 2016.

	2016	2017	Year-over-year change (%)
Structure Fires	34	37	8.8
Vehicle Fires	9	5	-44.4
Other fires	32	19	-40.6
Total Fires	75	61	-18.7
Total Calls	278	223	-19.8