It is the mission of the Oneonta Fire Department to prevent injury and loss of life or property from accidental or illegal fires, to provide emergency ambulance and general emergency pre-hospital medical assistance in life threatening situations, to assist citizens threatened with property loss in emergency situations, to mitigate the loss of life and property resulting from hazardous materials incidents or other man-made or natural disasters, and to maintain a reasonable cost of the public protection system for fire and  life safety in our community.

The employees of this department are our most valued resource.  Only through them will our mission be accomplished.  The residents and visitors to Oneonta are our customers with which we will strive to provide them the highest quality of service possible.  Employee and customer safety will affect our approach to the services we provide.  Through research, visioning and creativity, we will constantly strive for better ways to fulfill our mission and serve our customers.

The Oneonta Fire Department will work to prevent emergencies from happening through fire code enforcement, investigation, and public education.  As an organization we strive to be the recognized leader in Fire and EMS in Otsego County and Central New York State.  As individuals, and a department, we attempt to assist with developing innovative training techniques and conduct research for all aspects of emergency service delivery.  Our department as a cohesive group value constructive change as positive, and strive to be the department of choice for our employees to work and achieve professional development.