Silent Night parade to start at 7 p.m. tonight

Fire trucks and ambulances from Central Fire and EMS will be riding quietly through Colby, Abbotsford and Dorchester tonight, Oct. 7, starting at 7 p.m., as part of the annual Silent Night Parade honoring fallen firefighters.

A Silent Night parade is a procession of emergency vehicles that travel the parade route in silence with only their red emergency lights flashing.

This is done in honor of all the firefi ghters who have died in the line of duty. Firefighters and EMTs ask the public to join in their event by standing along the parade route with a candle or flashlight. The parade is held in conjunction with National Fire Prevention Week, Oct. 4-10 this year. All community members are encouraged to practice fire safety with their children, not only during Fire Prevention Week, but every week of the year.

The parade will start at the Central Fire station 3 in Dorchester on Business CTH A. It will head west before turning south onto Front Street into downtown, then west on West Second Avenue and north on South Second Street. The vehicles will loop back onto Business CTHA before heading north on Front Street. From Front Street, the parade will turn left onto Viking Avenue, left on North Second Street, right on Kennedy, right on North Third Street and then left on Viking. The procession will then turn south on Fourth Street and leave Dorchester on Hiline Avenue.

The vehicles will enter Abbotsford from the north on Hiline Avenue. They will then turn east onto West Spruce Street, go north on Fourth Avenue past the high school, east on Pine Street and then back south on First Street. From the south end of downtown, the procession will turn west back onto Spruce Street, go south on Fourth Avenue, and east on Linden all the way to STH 13, where it will turn south.

After departing Abbotsford, the procession will enter Colby from the north, turn west on Broadway, north on Second Street and then west again on Dolf Street. From there, it will go south on Colonial Drive, east on Adams Street, south on Sixth Street, east on Spence (CTH N) and then south again on Second Street before ending at station 1 on Broadway.