NOW BOARDING: TOY EXPRESS FIREFIGHTERS RESPOND TO HOLIDAY CALL.

Byline: Joseph Giordono Staff Writer

Lights flashing, sirens blaring, dozens of Los Angeles firefighters and highway patrol officers in a noisy and bright 30-engine convoy went out Sunday on an urgent holiday call.

The slow-moving caravan crisscrossed Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley, stopping traffic, drawing stares and drumming up support for the department's Spark of Love Toy Drive.

The procession ended at the Chatsworth Metrolink station Sunday evening, where throngs of onlookers cheered the departure of the Metrolink Holiday Toy Express Train bound for Ventura County and points west.

``This is so fulfilling to us, and everyone has been so generous with volunteering their time,'' said fire spokesman Brian Humphrey, who rode in the caravan with his wife.

``We always try and remind people that this is their fire department, and they have been wonderful about the procession. We had people on balconies and in storefronts waving and yelling that they were on their way to a station to donate toys,'' he said.

At its peak, the parade consisted of some 30 contemporary and vintage engines, three Highway Patrol squad cars and a dozen motorcycle officers. It began at 9 a.m. and wound its way from Santa Monica to downtown, past the Beverly Center, through Hollywood, and down Ventura Boulevard.

All Los Angeles fire stations will be accepting new, unwrapped toys that will be donated to disadvantaged children throughout the city, Humphrey said.

Of particular importance is that all the toys donated at specific stations will be given to children in that community.

``This is just an absolutely wonderful way for the firefighters to reach out to the community and the community to reach out to the firefighters,'' said Elaine Sandoval, who brought her two children to a Chatsworth fire station to donate toys and see the engines.

``I can't imagine that anyone minded being stuck behind all the trucks today,'' she said.

Students from Polytechnic High School in Sun Valley also participated in the fire-truck parade, including one who suffered through the 80-degree heat stuffed inside the school's bird mascot costume.

So far this year, the school has raised more than $11,000 to contribute to the toy drive, officials said.

The long line of trucks, with sirens sounding and lights flashing, did cause some confusion among some motorists, firefighters said. Several people were concerned that something catastrophic had happened at the Beverly Center, where the first two-dozen engines rendezvoused.

The toy drive continues through Christmas, Humphrey said, but the department is hoping to gather as many toys as possible to distribute by Christmas Eve.

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4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Shirette Daniel, 17 performs at the Chatsworth Metrolink station, where the Holiday Toy Express train, at top, stopped Sunday.

(3 -- color) Victoria Dudas, 6, of Chino Hills donates a toy Sunday.

(4) Families watch as the Metrolink Holiday Toy Express train pulls into the Chatsworth Metrolink Station on Sunday.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer