A year after its new fire policy, SUNY Oswego repairs its relationship with local firefighters

OSWEGO, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) -- A year after reforming its fire alarm protocol, SUNY Oswego has had a large drop in calls to the local fire department, according to a statement from the school.

The number of fire calls dropped by 120 fewer calls each semester. The fall 2023 semester, compared to the fall 2024 semester, had a drop of 133 calls to 12; for spring 2023, compared to spring 2024, 128 calls were reduced to eight.

The Oswego Town Fire Department has recorded 33 calls to SUNY Oswego this year so far.

Last year, the university got into hot water with the fire department over a spike in fire alarms burdening its volunteer firefighters. The number of calls jumped to over 300 a year in 2021, and that number stayed above 300 for two years.

Many of the calls were false alarms from students