PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- A University of Oregon student died when he fell down a chimney shaft at a downtown Portland apartment complex, fire officials said.
Firefighters found the man buried under burning ash at the bottom of the shaft early Sunday, said A.J. Jackson, a spokeswoman with the Portland Fire Bureau.
An official with the Multnomah County medical examiner's office identified the victim as Timothy D. Buras of Palatine, Ill. Buras was visiting Portland for the weekend with a friend, who said he had watched Buras fall into the shaft on the roof of the 14-story building.
Investigators believe Buras climbed to the chimney area and then stepped onto a covered shaft.
''There was a ladder leading up to it that was blocked off, so somehow they took extraordinary means on their own to get up there, which basically means they were someplace where they weren't meant to be,'' Jackson said.
Firefighters initially responded to the call as if for a rescue effort, since they didn't know how far down the man had fallen. After searching multiple shafts, they eventually found and extricated the body.
Investigators do not suspect foul play.
It was the second death in a decade involving the chimney shaft. In August 1994, police found the body of Michael Louis Hall, 20, at the bottom of the ventilation shaft a month after he was reported missing. Hall had been attending a party in the apartment building.