Man Found Stuck In Chimney
Man Says He Doesn't Know How He Got Into Chimney
Tuesday, February 3, 2009 – updated: 5:03 pm EST February 3, 2009 BURLINGTON, Vt. -- Apparently Santa Claus isn't the only one who goes down chimneys in the winter.
Burlington police received a report of a man crying for help early Sunday morning. When police arrived in the area, they heard the man's cries for help and followed the sound until they found footprints in the snow on the roof of a downtown building, reported WPTZ-TV in Plattsburgh, N.Y.
The footprints led to a chimney where officers found a man stuck inside. The man did not live in the building. He was conscious and told police he had been stuck for several hours. The man told police he had no idea how he had gotten there.
Kathryn Rohrer, in an apartment across the alley, saw rescuers pull the man out.
"You couldn't help but watch to make sure he was OK," she said.
She said she heard muffled shouting earlier that night.
"I really didn't think anything of it until I literally heard someone responding back, and then, you turn off the TV and realize there is someone saying help," Rohrer said. "When firefighters got to the roof, they say they could see the man's arm sticking out of the chimney. They said they tried to get him out with a rope, but that didn't work. So, they had to take this thing apart brick by brick, and even a day later, you still can see there's quite a bit of damage here to the roof."
Three teams of firefighters responded to the scene and secured a rope to the man's outstretched arm, according to Burlington fire officials. Firefighters tried to pull him out of the chimney, but were unsuccessful.
Firefighters eventually had to disassemble the chimney and were able to free the man at about 6:45 a.m.
"They smashed it and then took a ladder up the side and had to break in through the side of the building," said Michael Woodhouse, a witness. "The whole time, they were screaming to get the furnace turned off."
The man was transported to Fletcher Allen Health Care for evaluation and treatment of his injuries, fire officials said.
"He said he'd been drinking with his brother and didn't know how he got onto the roof," Woodhouse said.
"They didn't seem to necessarily believe his story, you know, that he just happened to blindly end up in a chimney. You know, they thought maybe he was up to no good, you know?" Woodhouse said.
Fire officials did not release the man's name or any information on his condition.
The man has not been charged with a crime.