SAN FRANCISCO—The San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) is holding their sixth annual firehouse decorating contest at selected San Francisco firehouses this December.
The sponsors are San Francisco Fire Credit Union and Los Bomberos Employee Group. The judges are Mission High School FIRE & EMS students, SF Chronicle staff, San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispen, Retired San Francisco Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White and Grand Judge Honorable Mayor Daniel Lurie, who will decide the top three winners and their chosen charities. The results will not be announced until Sunday, December 21.
On Saturday, December 20, the judges will visit the chosen firehouses from 5 p.m. until 10 p.m., starting with those without a community event, concluding with those with community events.
Each judging team will submit their top choices for Lurie after concluding their firehouse tour. Afterwards, Lurie will determine his top three winners from first place to third place. The judges will make their choices based on both community events and visual displays.
The SFFD is grateful for Code 3 Transportation’s donation of its buses that would transport media and judges to firehouses. Community members are welcomed to join their local firehouses that are entered in this contest. Public and media are asked to come to community events at firehouses across San Francisco on Saturday, December 20, 2025.
Look out for firehouses that are entered into the competition on the SFFD social media at: ‘X’ @SFFDPIO. Share your experience on social #SFFDHOLIDAY.
SFFD firehouse decorating competition started the tradition again during the COVID-19 pandemic holiday season, promoting goodwill since it stopped the tradition in the 1950s. This competition was first established in the 1940s.
