South Cook News

Palos Heights Fire Protection District responded to 268 calls in 2017 - 37.4 percent more than the previous year, according to data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System.

The calls in Palos Heights included 46 fires - 31 structure fires and 15 other fires. The fire department also responded to four calls for ruptures, explosions or overheating.

In all, the department saw $20,000 in fire loss - or about $435 per fire.

The department also received 218 false calls, including one malicious call and 217 other false calls.

The Palos Heights Fire Protection District had an annual budget of $4,500,601 in 2017.

The Palos Heights FPD Pension Fund, which has 22 active employees and 11 retired or inactive employees, was $30,350 positive as of December 2016, according to the fund's mandated filings with the Illinois Department of Insurance. That amounts to $1,047 for every fire in 2016.

	2016	2017	Year-over-year change (%)
Structure Fires	21	31	47.6
Vehicle Fires	2	0	-100
Other fires	6	15	150
Total Fires	29	46	58.6
Total Calls	195	268	37.4