Firefighters deliver for Santa

Local firefighters went above and beyond to ensure a happy Christmas for hundreds of the region’s children.

They pulled out all the stops to deliver piles of donated toys to the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station while their Marine brethren, who normally make the deliveries, are on deployment in Iraq.

“When I think of the other agencies, ours truly had to volunteer, but others were compensated,” Laguna Beach Fire Chief Mike Macey said.

“They stepped up,” he added. “They used their own vehicles, their own gas, their own time.”

The firefighters were participating in the regional Spark of Love and Toys for Tots drives.

The Spark of Love drive had experienced a severe shortage of donations earlier this month, and received heavy media play. Orders had been promised to underprivileged children around the Southland, and the situation looked dire.

But Lagunans, with their regional brethren, stepped up to the plate and helped the drive fulfill all its orders.

Fire Capt. Patrick Brennan reported that the stations doubled their amount of donated toys in just three days.

“The best was to see the children stop by the fire hall to drop a gift and talk with the firefighters,” Brennan added.

“They had the fire station filled every day with toys,” Macey said. He added that at the station beside City Hall, firefighters had to go out through one entry and come in another just to get around, because it was full of toys.

He noted that residents would even leave toys outside after hours, but there was no indication that any were taken.

“It was really an impressive countywide effort,” Macey said.

He recalled that while he was browsing in one of the local shops, the owner approached him and began pulling toys off her shelf to give to the drive, instructing him to ensure they were delivered.

El Morro Elementary School also pulled together an eleventh-hour toy drive, Macey said.

Although the campus is served by the county fire department, the school asked city firefighters to help out during a lunchtime drive.