West Cook News

Melrose Park Fire District responded to 400 calls in 2018 - 30.6 percent less than the previous year, according to data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System.

The calls in Melrose Park included 63 fires - 37 structure fires, nine vehicle fires and 17 other fires. The fire department also responded to three calls for ruptures, explosions or overheating.

In all, the department saw $477,550 in fire loss - or about $7,580 per fire.

The department also received 334 false calls, including seven malicious calls and 327 other false calls.

The calls resulted in three civilian fire-related injuries.

The Melrose Park Firefighters Pension Fund, which has 58 active employees and 78 retired or inactive employees, was $1,768,029 in debt as of December 2017, according to the fund's mandated filings with the Illinois Department of Insurance. That amounts to $23,892 for every fire in 2017.

	2017	2018	Year-over-year change (%)
Building Fires	28	37	32.1
Vehicle Fires	19	9	-52.6
Other Fires	27	17	-37
Total Fires	74	63	-14.9
Total Calls	576	400	-30.6