SAN ANGELO, TX — Members of the San Angelo Firefighter Department teaming up with the San Angelo Firefighters Association
"Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM we're at 4 intersections here in town and we have our fire boots and we are collecting funds that we hand count each day and we donate 100 percent of all donations to muscular dystrophy association,” said Mason Mathews, firefighter and coordinator for Fill The Boot.
‘Fill The Boot’ is a nationwide campaign to raise money
"Every year we do about $50,000,” said Matthews.
That goes toward medication, cures, and a summer camp trip for kids 6-17 who suffer from a muscle disease.
"I’ve met a few of these children that are in the Concho Valley and it makes everything about what we're doing all 3 days totally worth it," said Matthews.
He added this annual event helps the SAFD mix and mingle with the public without the chaos of a 9-1-1 emergency.
"People are pulling up on an intersection they’re busy, they’re in a hurry, they're on their way to get lunch on their way to work we've had wedding rings dropped in, we've had phones dropped in, keys, wallets we just had someone come back for a money clip," said Matthews. "We've had phone numbers."
That's not the only thing making San Angelo’s firefighters smile, this week the City approved a state grant that would increase the fire departments man power.
"The two positions that those 8 firefighters will fulfill, which is a fourth hose man on our ladder truck our big aerial ladder truck and then a battalion chief driver slash aid, is nothing but a safety issue for us,” he said. “It is huge."
The next three years the state will partially fund the salaries of the 8 new firefighters, after that the city will absorb the total cost which is expected to be just over $590,000.