VIDEO: Hanging a wreath on your front door is a classic Christmas tradition, and the Bismarck Fire Protection District is using theirs to remind people to stay safe this holiday season. Since 1983, the department has put up the same wreath in the station’s window, according to firefighter Jake Wright.
The wreath has four candles with red lights. If one of them turns white, it means a house in the community was damaged by a fire that started because of Christmas decorations. Wright said the tradition started in the 1950s with Naperville’s Fire Department but was adopted by a founding member of Bismarck’s department, Leon “Gramps” Siddens.
Wright said continuing the tradition is one way the station is carrying on his legacy. “About 2012, he stopped putting it up,” Wright said. “He just got older, couldn’t do it. So, I kind of took over the role of making sure it was put up after Thanksgiving, making sure we honor him and the tradition.”
