As Oswego and the surrounding area continues to grow, the Oswego Fire Protection District is responding to more calls.

Last year, the Oswego Fire Protection District had a record number of service calls – 7,361, to be exact. In 2024, the district had 6,994 calls.

Just in the last five years, the number of calls the district receives has grown by more than 1,000. In 2020, the Oswego Fire Protection District responded to 5,701 service calls.

“So the last several years have been really busy here,” Oswego Fire Chief Joshua Flanders said.

He believes that growth has greatly contributed to the increase in calls the district has seen the past few years. Kendall County’s population has grown by 8.4% in the past few years, making it the fastest growing county in the state.

Kendall County’s estimated 2026 population is 149,055. Formed by referendum in 1936, the Oswego Fire Protection District covers 52 square miles of the northeast portion of Kendall County and about four square miles of mostly unincorporated industrial parks in northwest Will County.

Along with Oswego, the district serves unincorporated Boulder Hill, a large portion of Montgomery’s south side, approximately 1 1/2 square miles of the Grande Park neighborhood in Plainfield and a small neighborhood in Yorkville.

The district looks to build a fifth fire station to keep up with growth in the area. In March 2024, the Oswego Village Board approved donating a parcel of land in the Wolfs Crossing corridor to the Oswego Fire Protection District for the station.

Located at the southwest corner of Wolfs Crossing and Devoe Drive, the parcel is approximately one acre in size.

“I feel like that’s a critical location for the future,” Flanders said. “But it’s clearly not the only place in the district where we’re watching the growth and trying to forecast for the future.”

By the numbers

The majority of the calls the fire district responded to last year were medical calls. The district responded to 5,057 medical calls and 55 building fires in 2025.

In addition, the district responded to 264 car crashes without injuries and 182 car crashes with injuries along with 21 vehicle fires, 100 gas leaks and 75 mutual aid incidents.

Fortunately, the fire district has enough personnel to deal with the increasing number of calls.

“We are fully staffed for what we’re authorized for as of last summer, which is the first time in several years,” Flanders said.

The district currently has 86 full-time employees. And there is a constant need for new firefighters.

“People retire and people unfortunately get hurt and can’t come back,” Flanders said. “And then there’s the growth in the area. If you want to be a firefighter, the growth around the Chicagoland area is definitely in your favor.”