EDGERTON—The Edgerton Fire District will receive a $21,000 state grant for a cadet program it offers in partnership with Edgerton High School and Blackhawk Technical College.
The grant was awarded through the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services. It was the second round of youth firefighter grants distributed by the department.
The cadet program offers an opportunity for high school students to earn both high school and technical college credit, as well as get hands-on firefighter training. Upon completion of the semester-long course, participants can take a test to receive their state Firefighter 1 certification, allowing them to become a volunteer or to start the fire districtÃÛèÖÊÓƵ internship program.
Edgerton Deputy Fire Chief Brandon Whitmore submitted the grant application to the state.
“This grant will ensure we can continue to offer this program to students in the future to help grow our depleting roster of volunteers,†Whitmore said in a release Thursday.
The money will be used to make sure all the cadets have proper fire gear. Edgerton Fire District Chief Randy Pickering said the gear typically costs about $5,000 per person, which can make it difficult to supply it to cadets.
“From a taxpayer perspective, there could be some scrutiny around spending $5,000 on someone whoÃÛèÖÊÓƵ not going to be a firefighter for us full-time, but if a person is going to be full-time (Edgerton or elsewhere) itÃÛèÖÊÓƵ the gear they need,†Pickering said.
There are five cadets in this yearÃÛèÖÊÓƵ program. Last year, there were four. It is separate from an internship program for college students. Pickering said the cadet program is part of the fire districtÃÛèÖÊÓƵ initiative to “grow our own†emergency personnel.
“We knew the emergency pool was going to be very thin, so instead of complaining about it we decided to make these partnerships with Blackhawk and local districts,†Pickering said.
According to the press release, the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services issues grants to help local fire departments and fire districts recruit and retain firefighters, particularly all-volunteer stations in rural communities. The youth firefighter grant program is meant to address recruitment and retention issues by showing high school students some career and volunteer opportunities at an early age.
“ItÃÛèÖÊÓƵ just a win-win for us... where the students go off and potentially serve other communities,†Pickering said.
Also receiving grants were the Howard-Suamico School District and Nicolet College, both in northeast Wisconsin. A total of $50,000 was awarded.
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