Central Whidbey Island Fire & Rescue’s longstanding Christmastime tradition is coming back soon. The department’s Santa Mobile will begin neighborhood tours beginning Dec. 7.

The tradition has been in place for close to 30 years, according to Central Whidbey Island Fire & Rescue Commissioner Paul Messner, who may or may not be the Santa atop the firetruck this year.

The Santa Mobile typically follows the Greening of Coupeville parade, but the event has been cancelled, according to the Coupeville Chamber of Commerce.

One change this year is the 6-foot candy chute designed to look like a candy cane. Firefighters usually hand out candy canes to kids as they drive by, but in an effort to social distance, kids will be able to pick up candy canes sent via a much larger one.

The nighttime routes will start at 5:30 p.m. and people can track Santa’s whereabouts on cwifr.org. It will update every three minutes. The first route will go through Coupeville on the North Main Street side of Highway 20 on Dec. 7. Tours will occur every other day from Dec. 7 – 21. Routes include locations from Coupeville to Admiral’s Cove and details can be found on the department’s website.

Firefighters will also be collecting donations of non-perishable items for local food banks as they have done in prior years.