Explosions could be heard across the Oswego State campus Saturday, Oct. 12, as the tires of a burning vehicle were destroyed.
The vehicle fire began at parked car in the Oswego State athletic field parking lot shortly before 11:00 a.m. Oswego Fire Department Chief, Randy Griffin said a woman had, “started her car, heard a weird sound, noticed some smoke and called 911.” The fire, later identified by the OFD as a “fuel fire” quickly engulfed the vehicle.
The fire could be clearly seen from nearby Laker Turf Field Stadium, where the Oswego State field hockey team was warming up to play a game against SUNY Cortland. A thick column of gray smoke could be seen billowing high into the sky. Flames appeared to shoot out of the vehicle at various intervals. Students and audience members alike rushed over the athletic field parking lot to see if it was their car that was in flames.
The University Police at Oswego were the first to arrive on the scene and quickly secured the area, keeping witnesses at a safe distance. The Oswego Fire Department arrived almost immediately after the University Police and began to fight the fire. There were other cars parked in the parking lot and people were worried their vehicle would catch fire too.
Oswego State’s own Student Association Volunteer Ambulance Force (SAVAC) was also on the scene.
“I was scared my car was on fire,’’ Chris Sannuto, a broadcasting and mass communications major at Oswego State said. After he made sure his car was safe he just “stood there and watched (the vehicle) blow-up,” Sannuto said, “It was crazy.”
Another Oswego State student, Alex Lantz-Gefroh, also a broadcast and mass communication major was worried about the safety of his vehicle. Lantz-Gefroh and Sannuto are both members of Oswego State’s campus TV station, WTOP-10. The pair, along with other students, were at Laker Turf Athletic Stadium this past Saturday to produce a live-sports broadcast of the Oswego State vs. SUNY Cortland field hockey game. All of the students working for WTOP-10 had their cars parked in the Athletic Field Parking Lot.
“I was helping to build graphics for the WTOP broadcast. I was told to come outside and I just saw a tower of smoke,” Lantz-Gefroh said.
He said he rushed to move his car and was worried that it too would become engulfed in flames. After Lantz-Gefroh secured his vehicle he said he saw, “something explode.” That something was the burning vehicle’s tires.
Oswego Fire Department firefighters were able to stop the vehicle fire before it could spread to the rest of the lot. Oswego Fire Department Chief Griffin said there were “no injuries.”
Neither Lantz-Gefroh, nor Sannuto’s cars were damaged by the fire. Something both students were very grateful for. Lantz-Gefroh said the WTOP-10 broadcast of the field hockey game went off without a hitch.
The Oswego State vs. SUNY Cortland field hockey game continued on schedule despite the automobile fire with the Red Dragons winning in overtime by a score of 2-1.
Photo by Peter Wendler | The Oswegonian
