Town of Batavia Firefighters held a boot drive Saturday to benefit the West Webster Fire Department and the families of the victims of the Christmas Eve ambush.

Firefighters walked the streets with boots in hand, collecting donations from cars passing by.
At the end of the event, the boots were dumped out and money was counted.

With the help of the community, an organizer of the event says the drive was able to collect more than $7,000 in just three and a half hours.

"We had several people throw hundred bills in, I know one group of guys get two hundred dollars," said Joshua Finn of the Town of Batavia Volunteer Fire Department. "It just goes to show how much the community supports the volunteer fire service, and these guys especially in West Webster who went through such a tragedy."

The boot drive is a firehouse tradition in fundraising efforts.