Lexington fire station puts up lights as a show of appreciation

At 6 p.m., 40,000 lights flicker to life at Harrodsburg Road and Arrowhead Drive in south Lexington.

The truck bays lined in Wildcat blue, the red-and-white candy cane arches and the crimson-crowned snowman surge to life.

The sound track starts booming, too. First comes the theme song to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, followed by the tinkling piano of A Charlie Brown Christmas and the Who-ville chorus from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

A 9-year-old boy gets out of the line of cars parked in the fire station driveway and twirls through the arches, feeling the music.

It's the fifth annual Lexington Fire Station 20 light show, and firefighters have been working on it for months.

For Lexingtonians, it is becoming a destination event.

By Christmas, not only will the fire station driveway be packed, there will be cars up and down the street and filling the bank parking lot across the street.

The sound track is available on the radio at 91.1 FM for about a one-block radius.

For the firefighters, it's a thank-you to the community for supporting the annual Fraternal Order of Firefighters toy drive.

Some nights, there is an appearance by "LED man," a fire station employee who dresses in a hazardous material suit wrapped in 1,700 lights. Station 20 houses three apparatus: Ladder 4, Engine 20 and HazMat 1.

Although many of the spectators park in the station driveway, firefighters say there has never been a moment's delay in responding to a call.

"My 9-year-old told us every day for the last week we have to come to the fire station," said Sarah Day, who was parked in a van with children Ellie, 15, and Collier, 9, who was waiting for the Charlie Brown Christmas song to come on.

Lt. Keith Dean, who helped launch the light show in 2006 with 15,000 lights, said it creates a community atmosphere at the station.

"One of the joys of being here is being able to do this every year," he said.

Will it keep getting bigger and brighter? Yes.

The firefighters are trying to figure out an eye-catching novelty for the nearby retention basin — perhaps a train, they think.

This story was originally published December 20, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Lexington fire station puts up lights as a show of appreciation."