Lake County Gazette

Newport Township Fire Protection District responded to 200 calls in 2018 - 42.9 percent more than the previous year, according to data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System.

The calls in Newport included 85 fires - 43 structure fires, 14 vehicle fires and 28 other fires. The fire department also responded to three calls for ruptures, explosions or overheating.

In all, the department saw $1,036,100 in fire loss - or about $12,189 per fire.

The department also received 112 false calls, including two malicious calls and 110 other false calls.

The Newport Township Fire Protection District had an annual budget of $1,875,540 in 2018.

The Newport Township FPD Firefighters Pension Fund, which has four active employees and one retired or inactive employee, was $22,209 positive as of April 2017, according to the fund's mandated filings with the Illinois Department of Insurance. That amounts to $453 for every fire in 2017.

	2017	2018	Year-over-year change (%)
Building Fires	22	43	95.5
Vehicle Fires	14	14	0
Other Fires	13	28	115.4
Total Fires	49	85	73.5
Total Calls	140	200	42.9