Christmas has now come and gone, however there is still is an opportunity to congratulate one of our local agencies on the authentic, inventive and well-executed Christmas wish they extended late last week.

The West Point Fire Department released a video, produced and shot by local freelance filmmaker Jason Walls, that brought the department nationwide attention in the days leading up to Christmas.

In the video, which drew comments from all across the continental United States and has attracted a massive amount of attention, Santa Claus is depicted orchestrating the song “Wizards in Winter” by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, synced to the flashing lights of West Point fire trucks. The video starts with Santa Claus, played by West Point firefighter Zac Smith, whistling “Jingle Bells,” sitting by a tree, then walking through the halls of the West Point Fire Department and eventually making his way outside.

Once outside, Santa goes to a podium, grabs a candy cane and taps it on the podium. After the tap, the fire department bay doors open, four fire trucks appear and the song begins.

In the 4-minute, 34-second video, Santa conducts the fire trucks through the song and then breaks the candy cane and drops it to mimic a “mic drop,” according to Walls.

Walls’ dad was a firefighter for the department for the 28 years, thus Walls grew up familiar with the halls and happenings in the office.

He did not charge the fire department for his work, which took nearly two weeks to fully complete, as this was a pet project he simply wanted to do. West Point Fire Chief Milton “Mitt” Smith said he was extremely grateful for Walls’ work, and said the production was a team effort that took the entire staff’s help.

In the midst of the project, the fire department and Walls could not have hoped for such a positive outcome from the video, which has brought positive attention to the fire department and area as a whole.

The video is proof of what hard work, creativity and dedication can bring, and we thank Walls and the entire West Point Fire Department family for taking a chance on creating this video. We think it is safe to say it worked out well.