Overview

The Village of Northbrook comprises approximately 13 square miles. An additional 3.5 square miles of Rural Fire Protection District is also included in the response area of the Fire Department, including tollways, forest preserves, residential and commercial land. The Northbrook Rural Fire Protection District (NBRFPD) was established for the purpose of providing fire and emergency medical transport services to residents and businesses in areas outside the corporate limits of the Village of Northbrook.

The Rural District is a separate governmental body, comprised of three township appointed trustees (who also reside in the District) with the Northbrook Fire Chief and Chief Financial Officer serving as liaisons. The Northbrook Rural Fire Protection District was created by State statute as a taxing mechanism to generate revenue for fire department services. The trustees administer the funds through a contract for services from the Village of Northbrook.

The District includes the unincorporated areas of Northfield Township bordered by Lake Cook and Willow Roads, and from the Des Plaines River to the Edens Expressway. Specifically the bulk of the areas served include unincorporated Cook County parcels in Glenbrook Countryside, Mission Hills, Citation Lake, Northbrook West, Mission Hills Estates, pockets of properties along Techny Road and on Sunset Ridge Road, and portions of the Village of Deerfield south of Lake Cook Road.

Funding & Budget

The Northbrook Rural Protection Fire District pays for services through a long standing policy which reflects total emergency service call load generated by the District as compared to the total emergency call load the Northbrook Fire Department responds to within Village corporate limits. The District's (NBRFPD) emergency call load contributes approximately 13 to 14% of the total call load and is therefore responsible for the same percentage amount of the total fire department budget and other supporting services including Public Works Mechanics, Finance Department, and Pension funding. Property tax revenue is the District's sole revenue source.