South Cook News

Midlothian Fire Department responded to 260 calls in 2017 - 21.9 percent less than the previous year, according to data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System.

The calls in Midlothian included 69 fires - 37 structure fires, five vehicle fires and 27 other fires. The fire department also responded to four calls for ruptures, explosions or overheating.

In all, the department saw $3,000,000 in fire loss - or about $43,478 per fire.

The department also received 187 false calls, including one malicious call and 186 other false calls.

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

The Midlothian Firefighters Pension Fund, which has 16 active employees and 20 retired or inactive employees, was $938,037 in debt as of April 2016, according to the fund's mandated filings with the Illinois Department of Insurance. That amounts to $13,028 for every fire in 2016.

	2016	2017	Year-over-year change (%)
Structure Fires	47	37	-21.3
Vehicle Fires	6	5	-16.7
Other fires	19	27	42.1
Total Fires	72	69	-4.2
Total Calls	333	260	-21.9