This was a grown man and not a child. He knew what he was doing was dangerous and climbing on a smoke stack is idiotic. I am sorry that any one has to go this way but his actions were moronic.

There should be no grounds for any lawsuit but I expect the sleez in Chi Town to crawl out like roaches at night.

He was up there at 1am. Perhaps the bar had just closed.

2012 Darwin Award Nominee, Illinois Chapter

What killed him was the injuries from a sudden stop.

Hey Creek,

I agree with you, I would think for liability they would have the locks. It is bad juju to let people kill themselves or others on your roof.

IXLR8 - I am not disagreeing with you, but in our "want something for nothing" litigious society, lawsuits for being stupid happen, a lot.

Funny how they mention how close he was to falling 42 floors, like he was so lucky to not have fallen.

The problem is the chimney is still going to be full of exhaust gases. A 6 foot wide 500 foot long pipe attached to huge boiler is not going to be full of breathable air after you switch of the boiler, at least not for awhile. Im sure he was getting some oxygen but also a ton of CO2 and CO.

Not a nice way to go stuck in that pipe, in fact that's kind of a nightmare of mine.

Well if he fell to the basement instead of 22 ft he would have been dead on impact. As it was he was able to contact his girlfriend (he should have called 911) and they at least made a huge attempt to save him. He could have rotted away in the smokestack no one ever knowing he fell.

What a way to go.... and what a photo to put on the story. Thumbs up, dude!

Not a good answer Dog...maintenance would probably not have had time to shut off all the boilers and such.

Another story from the shallow end of the gene pool......!!!!!!

He is not a child, and it is not the job of a hotel to forsee that someone would climb on the roof and then on top of smokestack.

It is a sad situation, but the hotel is not responsible for every possible stupid thing that someone may do..

"You would think that post 911, they would have locks etc... to keep non-hotel employees from getting to the roof."

I agree - or, at LEAST a way to prevent someone from going down the smokestack...

I can somewhat understand roof access, for pictures and view of Chicago, but

the smokestack should somehow be inaccessible except to employees...

AT any rate - the blame lies with the decedant...his fault.

WHO told him to go down the 'stack?

While exhaust gasses and a lack of oxygen may well have causes to his death, 'situational asphyxia' is always a consideration. Beyond internal injuries, his position and possible restrictions on his ability to breathe (situational asphyxia) may have actually been more critical. Any position that restricted his ability to expel phlegm or to inhale adequate amounts of air would lead to the sort of slow strangulation described here.

This is not that rare, it has been seen in burgulars finding themselves stuck in tight spaces, in kidnap victims tied in awkward positions in car trunks, in earthquake victims, and even amongst "escape artists". Adequate access to fresh air is only beneficial if one can actually breathe properly.

He could have rotted away in the smokestack no one ever knowing he fell.

After a couple of days someone somewhere would have started complaining about a smell. The stench of a decaying corpse travels through walls and quite a distance. It's not something you ever forget either if you are unlucky enough to have ever smelled it. It's strong and you know it's the smell of death even never having smelled it before.

Sadly it will be a law suit and a giant settlement. What I have learned as I travel the world is that the USA seems to be the only place you can die by stupidity, misadventure, not paying attention, or just a plain accident and someone else should always have to pay.

Crap happens, live life, have fun- make it count...RIP.

Yes, ScottW, isn't that so odd how reporters are taught to write these days; ...Nicholas Wieme; so lucky! Wow!

Thirty firefighter companies were called and more than 100 firefighters assisted in the rescue ? OVERKILL !

Stupid is, Stupid does, now Stupid is dead.

wonder if they found santa claus...or did he fall all the way to the bottom...again this year...said little jimmy...that chunk of coal i got last year sucked...

@Chris Brown , actually the hotel IS responsible for insuring that their property is secure from people accessing areas which they have no business being in. The door onto the roof should have been locked unless it was a designated fire escape for the guests, which I seriously doubt it was. There should have been a locked steel ladder cover covering the first eight feet of the ladder to the top of the smokestack. This is, in most states, a legal requirement. Finally, there should have been a secured screen locked down to the opening in the smokestack.

Are you aware that if someone comes onto your property and hangs themselves from one of your trees you are legally liable and subject to a lawsuit? Same deal with a swimming pool. You have to have a fence able to exclude anyone under a given age or height. I included no specific age or height because the law varies from area to area.

you can't fix stupid

@Magic Rat, are you for real about that hanging deal?? If so, that's scary.

Creek Dog, Don't give this fool or his heirs any ammunition! There are security cameras out the a$$ in the hotel's entrances and loading docks.They have been in place since 9/11,some before. Only a complete suicidal lost soul would climb up that chimney's ladder at 1am. The Hotel was negligent? You are kidding me right? Who know's what an irrational person will do? Furthermore,Creek, this is an MSNBC story. What was his alcohol blood level,drugs? Before you tell me what the hell do I know let me tell you. I worked on the antenna's of The John Hancock Building and was paid double time and a half Union scale. I had a lot of ball$ back then and still do. But nerve alone doesn't cut it, you have to be comfortable in the skill you have to do that kind of work. What that young man was doing up there besides rushing his brains out on adrenaline we'll never know? But they haven't closed down Niagra Falls yet because some nut decided he could make going over the falls in a barrel. We have enough warning labels in our society that rob us of our common sense and responsibility. Don't turn this into a lawsuit that would demand a sign on all rooftop entry doors saying,"DO NOT CLIMB THE CHIMNEY LADDER,IT'LL F^^KING KILL YOU! P.S. zuksam- a hundred firefighters that assisted are overkill? That's how the Firemen roll in Chicago and around the nation! zuksam, if you or your family was in a life or death situation,how many Firemen would you want to help your rescue? Be proud and loud of our Firemen,EMT's and Police because their efforts could be the only thing between us and meeting our Maker!

I'm glad to have a voice of reason here, Magic Rat. Most of these other people happily absolve the hotel of any liability just because the victim did something stupid. Well, foolishly wandering around the hotel grounds shouldn't result in a guest's death.

Magic Rat, An 8 foot covering around the base of the chimney's ladder would have been easily accessable by grabbing the 1st exposed rung and pulling yourself up. I'm 6'4" and in my 20's that would have been a piece of cake. An 8ft covering would have beckoned someone to challenge it. Most municipal water tanks,the ones with legs that is, that resemble a rocket ship,and high tension towers have ladders that are accessable only with a 24' ladder. You may want to get a new insurance agent. In order for a trespasser to hold you liable they must prove you were negligent. If you were the suicide victims Psychologist you may have to pony up!

Ummmm, george,

I've seen your comments on a lot of other stories and (if you don't mind me asking) why do you post the exact same 9 words?!

Your good Creek Dog, that is freaky. Maybe he is a mime or a mayan?

Maybe he's a spy from a foreign country holed up in a safe house trying to reach out to his handler for immediate extraction.

Either that or he's an idiot. Hard to tell I guess.

Those words are from the Bible: 2 Timothy 3:1.

But I am not really sure how it applies to this tragic story.

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

Really? One idiot falling into a chimney and that applies? Really? One idiot falls into a chimney because he was alone without safety equipment and that applies? Really? Then the idiot makes it worse and calls his girlfriend and not 911 and that applies? Really? The end of the entire world verse applies to one idiot doing something stupid and dying when it goes wrong? Really? NO REALLY????

Firefighters said it appears the man went onto the roof of the hotel on the 500 block of Michigan Avenue to take photos.

Third paragraph dude... Guess they found a camera on the roof or in the smoke stack...

Looks like an over head shot of R2D2.........Am I worng?

apparently he had some downtime between gigs appearing as the lead singer for the loverboy tribute band.

The cockroach guy def was an idiot.

Ewwwwwwwwwwww....cockroaches. Yes, cockroach guy was an idiot.l

I prefer the rule that first responders avoid putting themselves in harm's way, but that that in general they need to expect to take risks because that's the job description. It's like a soldier complaining that they are getting shot at. Sure, it's something to avoid, but if it's a deal breaker for someone, maybe they shouldn't enlist. Similarly, if you volunteer to be a fireman, you have to expect to be running into potentially deadly situations. The reason you need to go in will vary, but go you must. Don't like it? Don't sign up.

What about Santa? Better wait until after the holidays on that.

Just give Santa a master key to the lock on the grate

Santa doesn't have enough to worry about, without unlocking grates now?

Already is a law. Apparently the hotel thought they were excluded. Required to prevent burning material (like soot and ash built up on the inside of the chimney) from exiting it and igniting a fire in the area.

He was neither a guest or employee. Simply a trespasser.

There are two sides to that story: locking the door to the roof prevents people from going up there and hurting themselves, but the South Tower during 911 also locked the door to the roof so the people who made it up that far in the hope of getting out on the roof and being rescued by a helicopter were s- out of luck that day. This poor dude may have fallen into a structure so narrow that it restricted his ability to inflate his lungs. A slow and awful way to go.

Probably Gloria Allred!

I don't know how old the hotel is but I don't think the building contractor is going to worry about being sued since he probably died at least 50 years ago

Steven, in some states his estate could be sued. What craziness!

Maybe all chimneys should be covered on top? :-)

See my comment above.

That is true Jester but then again how would Santa get down to give gifts if we all had to bar and chain our chimneys. All of these do gooders are trying to rob us of Santa

LOL, right I love your sign

You took the words right out of my mouth.

No one is just sitting on their couch, and we all do adventerous things. But, there is adventure, and then there is stupidity. He acted stupidly and suffered the consequences for it.

It is a sad situation and I wish his family and friends well; however, you should NEVER glorify stupidity. Hopefully, this will be a warning to others NOT to do what he did.

Kent,

There is a difference between being adventurous and being reckless. Climbing to the top of a smokestack atop a tall building in a city noted for its wind gusts without a rope tie-off is just plain stupid.