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San Francisco firefighters were called to rescue a man who got stuck in his chimney just before midnight Monday in his Pacific Heights neighborhood.
Fire crews were called to the man's apartment where they found the man inside the chimney. It took about an hour to pull him out.
It's unclear why he was in the chimney of his apartment building, which is seven stories high. NBC Bay Area spoke to a dispatcher who said that police may have been trying to contact the man, and that he may have tried to hide in the chimney.
Firefighters at the scene said their crews had to break out special equipment and bust out some chimney bricks to remove the man.
The man was taken to the hospital, where hospital staff said he was decent shape.
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Santa needs to go on a diet
Do Mexicans use Flues in their fire place design? Might make him think about going back to Mexico where he probably would have gotten away. I'm only speculating he was running or on the run from ICE, DEA or possible INS. I doubt he thought he was Santa Claws.
They could have saved effort and money by just smoking him out.
This news could really traumatize children this time of year.
Santa Claus Jose, that's a new one...
One too many Burritos and Tamales maybe?
Glad he's ok, could have been worse if the home owner had a chihuhua trying to mess with his exposed nuts while stuck up there...
Jersey Michael(-Santa needs to go on a diet)
Actually, this has nothing to do with being overweight.There have been countless cases of thin people getting stuck in trying to go down chimneys as well.With many dying when their chests become too restricted, with their arms overhead and they are wedged in tightly. Normally it is burglars one hears about. Only a small child would be able to get through such a small space. It is deceptively from the outside.
The problem is all chimneys are designed to become more narrow as they get closer to the heat source. They do so, so the smoke is drawn upwards, towards the larger space and opening of the top as air passes over it.So trying to squeeze in from the top, will find that person quickly stuck.
The worst thing that ever happened to me was on Christmas.
It was Christmas Eve. I was 9 years old. Me and Mom were decorating the tree, waiting for Dad to come home from work. A couple hours went by. Dad wasn't home. So Mom called the office. No answer. Christmas Day came and went, and still nothing.
So the police began a search.
Four or five days went by. Neither one of us could eat or sleep. Everything was falling apart. It was snowing outside. The house was freezing, so I went to try to light up the fire. That's when I noticed the smell.
The firemen came and broke through the chimney top. And me and Mom were expecting them to pull out a dead cat or a bird. And instead they pulled out my father. He was dressed in a Santa Claus suit. He'd been climbing down the chimney... his arms loaded with presents. He was gonna surprise us. He slipped and broke his neck. He died instantly.
And that's how I found out there was no Santa Claus.
Did you make that up?
Yes! they just made that up. If you have a chimney,get a ladder and climb up on the roof and look at the opening. If you can climb down it then you are probably a squirrel,snake or bat.
@ ANRKIST:are you a squirrel,snake or bat?
The first clue would have been his car park near by,but I quess you didn't have a clue.
Does no one watch classic movies anymore? The only reason I even clicked on this story is to see if someone else made the Gremlins connection.
Precisely why I clicked on it. I immediately thought of Gremlins. You just can't make this stuff up.
I read the story, it sounded familiar, and I nailed it! Phoebe Cates in Gremlins. Nice and made for a great laugh with my co-worker and I!
But wasn't there an Edgar Allan Poe story about an orangutan who came down the chimney and murdered people in their sleep or something? That orang was one sick mofo!
I heard that story before. But I can't remember where.
Aha, so it's a suburban legend
It's from the movie Gremlins
lol, I knew there was something fishy.. like we're supposed to believe there's no Santa Claus!
GREMLINS!
There is no law against doing free chimney inspections..
It is good he is in decent shape. Unfortunate it is the shape of the inside of a chimney.
All I know is there are presents under the tree Christmas morning that were NOT there when I went to bed on Christmas Eve! Confussed, IMO you are a confused racist. You are very lucky if Santa doesn't just bring you a lump of coal!
Hey, back off with the racist trash - check out the Christmas carols. "I'm dreaming of a WHITE Christmas" - not multi-colored, not black, but white! And then Deck the Halls - "Don we now our alternate lifestyle apparel"??? And Santa trolling for the "working girls" with his Hoe-Hoe-Hoes???
Totally Racist!
And may you have a totally inclusive observation of the season, in a manner which is acceptable and/or positive to your world perception, and positive emotions (again, to your perspective) through the next orbit of the earth around its primary luminary.
And for you traditionalists, MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Is that somewhere between triangular and hexagonal?
After being in the chimney, perhaps square?
Sponge Bob, Square Pants is how he'll be known from now on.
I'm 72 years old and I still believe in Santa Clause,I get presents every years so whatever works.
He was role playing. He was a hampster and the chimney was a sphincter. After all, it is San Francisco.
Does anybody proofread anymore ? Journalists don't seem to realize that so much can be realized about them by the way they write and/or leave out words.....for example...last sentence of article...
"The man was taken to the hospital, where hospital staff said he was decent shape."
What the hell is 'decent shape'. Isn't it IN decent shape ? This kind of thing takes away from the story and NBC ought to have people proofread.
A man from SF going into a dark tunnel. Sounds normal in SF.
More chlorine in the gene pool, please!
So, how long before this idiot sues the apartment complex and the police department for his stupidity?
I misread the title as if the guy was stuck for 8 days in the chimney! Where's my morning coffee?
Good that he is decent shape - he could have been indecent shape! Or even in decent shape....
Shoulda had his Reingeer on!
This is getting out of hand. Need more chimney control...or just ban them completely.
I wonder how many times Santa Claus actually got stuck in chimneys, or went into chimneys only for them to be linked to furnaces instead of fireplaces (not all homes have fireplaces.) And Santa is too fat to fit into most chimneys anyway. This does sound like a weird story...a man getting stuck in a chimney, especially so close to Christmas. Also, it's been years since I've seen "Gremlins", but I do recall the chimney scene. Perhaps Bert the Chimney Sweep from "Mary Poppins" could have helped get that man out as well. Very funny story.
If you ever saw "The Santa Claus" with Tim Allen, all those questions are answered.
EVERY YEAR there is at least one MORON that gets stuck in a chimney.. When will people ever learn?
OMG There really IS a Santa Claus . . .
Alcohol may have been a factor.
Hey, give the guy a break; it's Sanna Clause practicing for his run this next week!
Should have let the police question him while he was in the chimney.
Was he stuck at the bottom going up, or at the top going down? If he was down around the bottom, just light a nice fire and I'll bet he would have come out, one way or another....