By KELSEY UNRUH

Staff writer

Four firefighter vacancies in Hillsboro went down to three Wednesday after Hillsboro City Council approved Matt Wintermote’s request to become a firefighter.

Wintermote, who graduated from Hillsboro High School in May, had been in the junior firefighter program for five months, working with chief Ben Steketee.

“This is the first successful graduate of that program into our full-time fire team,” city administrator Larry Paine said. “He’s got an in with the who, what, when, and where with everything that goes on behind the scenes.”

Paine said he thought Wintermote would make a good addition to the department.

“I’m very excited for him,” Paine said.