South Central Reporter

Taylorville Fire Department responded to 161 calls in 2017 - 6.4 percent less than the previous year, according to data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System.

The calls in Taylorville included 88 fires - 34 structure fires, eight vehicle fires and 46 other fires.

In all, the department saw $225,100 in fire loss - or about $2,558 per fire.

The department also received 73 false calls.

The Taylorville Fire Department had an annual budget of $131,620 in 2017.

The Taylorville Firefighters Pension Fund, which has 17 active employees and 13 retired or inactive employees, was $449,297 in debt as of April 2016, according to the fund's mandated filings with the Illinois Department of Insurance. That amounts to $6,328 for every fire in 2016.

	2016	2017	Year-over-year change (%)
Structure Fires	28	34	21.4
Vehicle Fires	6	8	33.3
Other fires	37	46	24.3
Total Fires	71	88	23.9
Total Calls	172	161	-6.4