South Cook News

Oak Forest Fire Department responded to 325 calls in 2017 - 14 percent less than the previous year, according to data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System.

The calls in Oak Forest included 95 fires - 62 structure fires, nine vehicle fires and 24 other fires. The fire department also responded to four calls for ruptures, explosions or overheating.

In all, the department saw $879,100 in fire loss - or about $9,254 per fire.

The department also received 226 false calls, including 10 malicious calls and 216 other false calls.

The Oak Forest Firefighters Pension Fund, which has 26 active employees and 22 retired or inactive employees, was $846,786 in debt as of April 2016, according to the fund's mandated filings with the Illinois Department of Insurance. That amounts to $6,564 for every fire in 2016.

	2016	2017	Year-over-year change (%)
Structure Fires	92	62	-32.6
Vehicle Fires	12	9	-25
Other fires	25	24	-4
Total Fires	129	95	-26.4
Total Calls	378	325	-14