When Josh Bostedt was hired as chief of Oconto Fire & Rescue almost three years ago, he was interested in expanding fire education from middle school students to high school kids. Bostedt said he hoped letting students try their hand at some fire-fighting skills would not only increase awareness of fire prevention but get the teenagers thinking about pursuing firefighting after graduation. When he heard about the Youth Firefighter Training grant program created in the 2021-23 state budget, Bostedt said he immediately started working on the grant application to create a program with Northeast Wisconsin Technical College and Oconto High School. They received $17,982 in the program's first round of funding last May and used it to buy gear for 10 students during the first class this fall.