California Boy Gets Stuck in Chimney

LANCASTER, Calif. (AP) -- An 11-year-old boy had to be rescued by firefighters after he got stuck in a chimney while trying to get into his friend's locked house.

``I wasn't Santa Claus,'' said Rance Hill, who spent 1 1/2 hours in the chimney Tuesday.

The Antelope Valley boy said he was trying to help a friend when he shimmied down the chimney at about 4:30 p.m. and got stuck feet-first. His friend was unable to pull him free and called Los Angeles County firefighters.

They tried to get him out from below and even knocked a hole in the chimney at a point where it narrowed to about 8 inches but that didn't work, fire Inspector Mike McCormick said.

``My foot was stuck,'' Hill said.

Finally, they were able to haul up the sooty youngster with a rope.

It felt ``like I was flying, just going up real fast,'' he said.

He also had some advice to other kids.

``Never go down a chimney or do something crazy like that,'' he said. ``Not even for a thousand dollars.''