Dec. 23—Firefighters strung fire boats with lights, took spectacular drone footage and had snow hauled in from the Sierras for the city’s annual fire station decoration contest.
But it was Station 39, a charming neighborhood fire house at 1091 Portola Dr., that took the top prize — turning the historic station at the foot of Mt. Davidson into a light-covered wonderland.
The contest originally ran from 1948 to 1950, and was extremely popular, but ended bitterly after San Franciscans voted down a firefighter cost-of-living raise. It was revived in 2020, after a Chronicle article documented the original contest and suggested a return.
The 2022 contest was arguably the biggest ever. Several stations hosted block parties, and a Teamsters truck, escorted by emergency vehicles, crossed the Bay Bridge early Tuesday morning filled with several tons of winter snow. Also, San Francisco Mayor London Breed was the final judge, choosing the winners from finalists picked by a group that toured 10 stations on Tuesday night.
Station 39 was the winner, with Station 12 finishing second and the Bureau of Equipment in the Mission District third. The BOE, which has a snow-making machine and was the beneficiary of the Teamsters snow, was the 2021 winner.
2ND PLACE STATION 12 https://t.co/Q11F7Zhth7 pic.twitter.com/cQp4DocBCS
— SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT MEDIA (@SFFDPIO) December 23, 2022
“Thanks to our Fire Department we got to experience great community parties, mesmerizing Sierra snow, colorful lights, fun snowball fights, delicious homemade cookies and festive spirits all over San Francisco,” Breed said. “It is delightful to see people having fun at our fire stations and meeting firefighters, police officers, neighbors and small business owners.”
Station 39, founded in 1936 and still in its original building, lined its fire house in multicolored lights, built a firefighting scene on the lawn and framed the garage in holiday trees covered with yellow lights. A snow-making machine dusted the front sidewalk while an inflatable Santa waved from the roof.
3RD PLACE STATION BOEhttps://t.co/Q11F7Zhth7 pic.twitter.com/Ipw0uzLDUf
— SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT MEDIA (@SFFDPIO) December 23, 2022
Honorable mentions included Station 13 in the Financial District, Station 38 in Pacific Heights and Station 35 — the floating fireboat station along the Embarcadero.
Sponsors included San Francisco Fire Credit Union employees, Los Bomberos Employee Group and Code 3 Transportation.
The winners split $3,000 in money going to charities of their choice.
Fire stations will remain lit at least until December 31.
“This year’s station holiday decoration competition was absolutely amazing,” said San Francisco Fire Department Chief Jeanine Nicholson. “Your San Francisco firefighters, paramedics and EMTs did an amazing job engaging with not only each other, but the communities that they serve.”
Peter Hartlaub is The San Francisco Chronicle’s pop culture critic. Email: phartlaub@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @PeterHartlaub
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