Dupage Policy Journal

Bensenville Fire Department responded to 1526 calls in 2017 - 18.6 percent less than the previous year, according to data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System.

The calls in Bensenville included 57 fires - 31 structure fires, 10 vehicle fires and 16 other fires.

In all, the department saw $273,100 in fire loss - or about $4,791 per fire.

The department also received 1469 false calls, including 11 malicious calls and 1458 other false calls.

The Bensenville Firefighters Pension Fund, which has 22 active employees and 25 retired or inactive employees, was $743,692 in debt as of December 2016, according to the fund's mandated filings with the Illinois Department of Insurance. That amounts to $9,414 for every fire in 2016.

	2016	2017	Year-over-year change (%)
Structure Fires	49	31	-36.7
Vehicle Fires	15	10	-33.3
Other fires	15	16	6.7
Total Fires	79	57	-27.8
Total Calls	1,875	1,526	-18.6