Santa Claus starts his early rounds in Murphy next week, riding atop a firetruck through every neighborhood in town.

Beginning Monday, Dec. 3, and continuing for about 15 days, Santa will rode on top of a firetruck with its lights flashing, bell ringing and accompanied by an occasional blast of the siren. The rides are from 6:30 p.m. until 8 p.m. and cover every street in Murphy with the exception of short cul-de-sacs.

“We’ll take the jolly old elf around every evening, except Sundays. He’ll be safely strapped to the engine, so he won’t be able to disembark and interact with anyone,” Fire Chief Del Albright said. “In fact, in order to complete the entire city within 15 days, the engine will not be able to stop for any length of time.”

All neighborhoods and subdivisions are included in the schedule. But, if there is rain or an emergency, the schedule for a particular neighborhood will be changed.

Live tracking of Santa’s rides will be posted on www.murphytx.org so that residents can get an approximate time and date of the drive-by visit to their neighborhood.

“Because Santa can’t get off the engine, firefighters, members of their families, and perhaps even some council members will be distributing wrapped candy by tossing it from the back of the fire engine,” Albright said. “Because of that, we ask that parents accompany small children and keep an eye on them as Santa makes his way through the neighborhood.”

Santa will take one evening off from his citywide tour, Thursday, Dec. 6 when he will be assisting the mayor in lighting the community Christmas tree during Christmas in the Park at City Hall.

“Other than the evening of Christmas in the Park, we will take Santa throughout the city, ensuring that he is familiar with each neighborhood. We have to make sure that he doesn’t miss any homes on Christmas Eve,” the fire chief pointed out.

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From Staff Reports • [email protected]