Nat King Cole crooned "The Christmas Song" from a smartphone speaker near an A-frame sign that read "Elves at work."

Oversized novelty red and green Christmas bulb decorations doubled as traffic cones as actual bulbs were hand-strung onto green strands that would soon be hanging from the eaves of Coeur d'Alene Fire Station 3.

In Santa hats and holiday attire, the owners of three local businesses and a few family members decorated the fire station with red and white lights Friday morning to say thank you and brighten the holidays for North Idaho's heroes.

“This is just an awesome thing to bring some cheer through some dark months,” Coeur d'Alene firefighter Gabe Eckert said. “And it will be beautiful when it’s all on and people are showing up for Santa photos."

Eco-Wash LLC owner Josh Ribble, Double Diamond Window Cleaning and Pressure Washing owner Blake Baxter and Swift Serve's Noah Leach united at the fire station to donate their time and expertise to complete a holiday light installation that would typically cost at least $3,000.

“These guys showed up early, they brought food, they made sure we were taken care of,” Eckert said. “They’re doing great.”

A smiling Baxter said the crew was feeling quite festive.

"We’re just giving back to the community," he said. "Everybody’s going to see it from the freeway."

While the three businesses are competitors in the industry, they teamed up for the special project to honor Coeur d'Alene's firefighters in remembrance of the Canfield Mountain incident, which claimed the lives of Coeur d’Alene Battalion Chief John Morrison and Kootenai County Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Frank Harwood. 

Coeur d'Alene engineer Dave Tysdal was also critically wounded in the shooting and fire that unfolded June 29. Tysdal was transported from Kootenai Health to a specialty rehabilitation facility in Colorado in July. He is now living in an apartment near the rehab facility.

"Dave is continuing to work hard in outpatient and will be coming home soon," firefighter Eric Loney shared in an update. 

Tysdal also owns Cable Creek Tree Farm and is known around the firehouse for his love of the yuletide season. Engineer Kelan McKiernan, who was hired alongside Tysdal, said this is Tysdal's time of year.

“This was Dave’s holiday,” McKiernan said. "We talked one time about growing pumpkins at his place, and he said, 'I don’t love Halloween. I love Christmas.’ He did the Christmas tree sales and they made Christmas ornaments to sell out of their barn. 

"This is his holiday, and for them to decorate the station he worked out of for most of his career, I think is super duper cool and I think it’s beautiful.”

Eckert said it's awesome that the crew would team up to do something like this for the firefighters.

“It’s just a visible capture of the outpouring of support from the community," he said. "This community has been so awesome in the wake of Canfield, June 29. Stuff like this just shows this community doesn’t forget and this community continues to honor. We are incredibly thankful for this community.”

In another turn of giving back, Fire Station 3 will host photos with Santa from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 6. Photos will be free with donations of canned goods given to the food bank.

Santa and members of the Coeur d’Alene Firefighters Local 710 will be on a big red fire engine, covered in thousands of holiday lights, as they go around town collecting food and cash donations for the food bank during the Mobile Santa Food Drive, beginning Dec. 17.

Visit cdaid.org to view the map and use the Santa Tracker. When flashing red lights accompany Christmas music, people can donate canned food and let the kids say hello to the firefighters and Santa, who will have candy canes and other surprises. Santa’s journey will last from 4:30 to 8:30 each evening.

    Eco-Wash LLC owner Josh Ribble carefully hangs lights on the eave of Coeur d'Alene Fire Station 3 during a sunny Friday morning.
  

    Kylan Ribble, 3, assists mom Kimmy Ribble with attaching bulbs to light strings on Friday morning at Coeur d'Alene Fire Station 3 on 15th Street.
  

    Kimmy Ribble and Double Diamond Window Cleaning and Pressure Washing owner Blake Baxter prepare to install Christmas lights Friday morning at Coeur d'Alene Fire Station 3.
  

    Noah Leach pokes his head over the side of the roof as he reels up strings of lights on Friday at Fire Station 3 in Coeur d'Alene.
  

    Kylan Ribble, 3, smiles for the camera Friday morning as he helps prepare Christmas light bulbs to be installed on Coeur d'Alene Fire Station 3.
  

    Coeur d'Alene firefighters Travis Hixson, left, and engineer Kelan McKiernan show 3-year-old Kylan Ribble around the station Friday morning. Kylan's parents and business colleagues installed Christmas lights on the station as a gift to brighten the holidays for local firefighters.