Escalon firefighters will be out in force at the main intersection in the city – Highway 120 – McHenry Avenue – Escalon-Bellota Road area – later this month. They will be armed with their turnout boots, collecting funds for the Firefighters Burn Institute in Sacramento.

Coordinator Jennifer Cannon said the drive will run on Saturday, May 21 and Sunday, May 22 starting at 8 a.m. each day and running through about 4 p.m.

Staging area for the department is in the parking lot adjacent to True Value Hardware and McDowell’s Towing and there will be some extra activities there this year as well, set for Saturday only.

“We will have a kid’s zone that will have a station to put on turnouts, they can check out the engine and take pictures with the firefighters,” Cannon said. “We will have a small obstacle course the kids can go through also. We will have a representative from the Firefighters Burn Institute on site that day and Sparky the fire dog will definitely be out there.”

Firefighters work all corners of the intersection during the Fill the Boot drive, collecting donations for the institute, and those that donate are given a flyer to put on their windshield so they aren’t asked again during the weekend if they come back through the busy intersection.