Chambana Sun

Bement Fire Protection District responded to 16 calls in 2017 - 5.9 percent less than the previous year, according to data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System.

The calls in Bement included 13 fires - six structure fires, one vehicle fire and six other fires.

In all, the department saw $73,500 in fire loss - or about $5,654 per fire.

The department also received three false calls.

The Bement Fire Protection District had an annual budget of $175,444 in 2017.

The Bement FPD Firefighters Pension Fund, which has active employee and two retired or inactive employees, was $55,300 in debt as of April 2016, according to the fund's mandated filings with the Illinois Department of Insurance. That amounts to $4,608 for every fire in 2016.

	2016	2017	Year-over-year change (%)
Structure Fires	2	6	200
Vehicle Fires	0	1	-
Other fires	10	6	-40
Total Fires	12	13	8.3
Total Calls	17	16	-5.9