Metro East Sun

Highland Fire District responded to 45 calls in 2018 - 12.5 percent more than the previous year, according to data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System.

The calls in Highland included 10 fires - six structure fires, two vehicle fires and two other fires.

In all, the department saw $6,500 in fire loss - or about $650 per fire.

The department also received 35 false calls.

The Highland Fire District had an annual budget of $281,982 in 2018.

The Highland Park Firefighters Pension Fund, which has 49 active employees and 60 retired or inactive employees, was $1,310,247 positive as of December 2017, according to the fund's mandated filings with the Illinois Department of Insurance. That amounts to $93,589 for every fire in 2017.

	2017	2018	Year-over-year change (%)
Building Fires	7	6	-14.3
Vehicle Fires	3	2	-33.3
Other Fires	4	2	-50
Total Fires	14	10	-28.6
Total Calls	40	45	12.5