SUN PRAIRIE, Wis. — Fire departments across the state are struggling with recruitment, but thanks to a new grant program, the fire service can talk to potential recruits at a younger age.
The new program allows the younger generation to get a look at what it’s like to be in the fire service.
Firefighter Matt Kosky said watching high school recruits go through training bring back memories. It’s something he did when he was their age.
“Everything they are doing, we do every day, like three or four times a day consistently,” firefighter Matt Kosky said.
When Kosky was in high school, Sun Prairie Fire Chief Christopher Garrison came and talked about the fire service to his class. It sparked his interested and he’s never looked back.
“You get to help people the community is great and the brotherhood and sisterhood is also really fun,” Kosky said.
It was that opportunity that found Kosky his passion in life and a career in the fire service. It’s something the department of Safety and Professional Services is hoping to capitalize on with a new grant program.
“I’m hoping to rekindle that hope to want to be a firefighter and more importantly to show training and opportunities to people before college when they are thinking about what they may want to do,” Department of Safety and Professional Services secretary Dawn Crim said.
DPSP will have grants up to $25,000 to help fire departments, technical colleges and school districts expand training programs for high school juniors and seniors. It’s a blessing for fire departments too who are struggling to recruit.
“Today’s culture a lot of these kids are not interested in public safety in the police and fire and EMS service so this program is designed to just bring them back in,” Sun Prairie Chief Christopher Garrison said.
A program like this is something Kosky said meant a lot to him and he is excited to now see it on a bigger scale and impacting more departments across the state.
“There is going to be a lot more variety of people coming in. I would have never chose this as a career unless someone asked me,” Kosky said.
Kosky said he is excited to watch the next generation of high schoolers across the state find a passion for the fire service just like he did.