A lone black fireman’s boot solicits donations on a table in the lobby of the Richland Township Volunteer Fire Department.

It’s that time again.

Just like last year, and the one before, area firefighters are taking a break from training runs in fire engulfed structures and safety drills at 1900 degrees. Instead of fighting fire, they are fighting for its littlest victims.

Both Richland Township and Pendleton fire departments have taken on the Hoosier Burn Camp in Brookston as their cause and the fundraising season has begun.

The camp gives Indiana’s youngest burn victims a shot at one week of normalcy, said Kelly Haun, EMS sergeant for the Richland Township Fire Department.

Rather than hiding the scars that will never really fade, children at the burn camp rip their shirts from their bodies and dive into the camp’s pool with confidence that for one week, they won’t be judged since each child shares the same stigma.

“Even though they are normal things in our childhood,”: Haun said, “they don’t get to experience it because of their burns.”

The camp, which relies on donations, is free for campers ages 8 to 18.

On Aug. 24, Pendleton firefighters carried their boots at area intersections in hopes that passing motorists would donate to the cause.

Pendleton Fire Chief Danny Gardner said the firefighters have once again raised $1,000 for burn victims.

Pendleton firefighters have done the fundraiser for three years, choosing it over the Muscular Dystrophy Association fundraiser favored by most fire departments across the country. Each year, Pendleton firefighters raise an average of $1,000 for the burn camp.

Richland firefighters challenged the department’s firefighter cadets to take on the cause this year to fulfill the philanthropy requirement of their training.

Richland firefighters raised $5,000 for the camp last year but when cadets learned that a check for $23,000 was presented to the camp last year by another organization, they raised the bar.

Jerry Stigall, 14, is the cadet chief for the department and said the eight cadets have pledged to raise $25,000 this year. “They’re all psyched about it. They want to help the kids.”

Richland Fire Capt. Jeffrey Stigall has been a firefighter for 26 years and said he first saw what happens to children saved from fire while working at Wishard Hospital in Indianapolis. “To see the kids in the burn center, it was horrible.”