FIREFIGHTER SANTA KNOCKED OUT BY HURLED OBJECT IN SPOKANE

A firefighter dressed as Santa Claus was knocked unconscious when he was struck in the head by a thrown object while riding in a truck. Whatever it was that hit Kevin Smith, 29, left him with a broken nose, two black eyes and a concussion. Smith was riding alone in the back of a flatbed truck, which was decked out as a sleigh.

He told The Spokesman-Review newspaper he never saw what hit him Saturday evening. The accident happened just west of St. Aloysius Church, on the Gonzaga University campus. "One second I was up there waving to people, and the next minute I wasn't," Smith said.

Santa Run, sponsored by the firefighters union, features firefighters who spend a few of their off hours dressed up as Santa. The firefighters ride through neighborhoods and give candy to children, going ho-ho-ho through a megaphone as holiday music is played through speakers. Other volunteers realized something was wrong after they hadn't heard from Smith for a few minutes.

They stopped the truck and found him lying unconscious. "It pretty much cold-cocked him," Fire Lt. Scott Himelspach said. Smith awoke in the back of the sleigh. "They thought I'd spilled my hot chocolate, but then they realized it was blood," Smith said. "The rest of the night was kind of hazy." He learned his nose was broken after being taken to Deaconess Medical Center.

A firefighter for eight years, Smith said he hoped to return to work on Christmas Day. In the past firefighters have been hit with snowballs, bottles and paintballs, but serious injuries have been rare, Himelspach said.

Assistant Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer said an assault report was filed with police, but no witnesses have come forward nor has anyone determine what hit Smith. "Just like any unwitnessed crime, it's extremely difficult to connect the crime up with a criminal when you don't have an eyewitness," Schaeffer said.