A man who spent the night trapped in a chimney of a vacant central Fresno house was rescued by firefighters Friday morning after neighbors heard cries for help.
The unidentified man was taken to Community Regional Medical Center after firefighters worked about a half-hour to pull him through the top of the chimney of a house on North Ferger Avenue, southeast of Roeding Park, tucked in a tidy neighborhood near Palm and Belmont avenues.
It wasn't clear why the man was in the chimney, but neighbors said police chased several people out of the house Thursday night and it was possible the man was trying to hide from officers. The vacant house recently was remodeled and had a for-sale sign in the front yard.
Neighbors called police early Friday after they heard the man's cries. When officers arrived, they initially thought the man was trapped under the house, then realized he was in the chimney.
The officers called for help from the Fire Department, which sent four trucks -- two engines, a ladder truck and an urban search-and-rescue truck.
Firefighters initially thought they would have to dismantle part of the chimney to get the man out. Acting Battalion Chief Thomas Cope said they decided to try to pull him out from the top, the way the man had gone in.
Cope said the victim was wedged tightly where the chimney took a right-angle turn above the fireplace. Firefighters used the ladder truck as a rescue platform and managed to get a rope around the man's arms and slowly pull him to safety.
The soot-blackened victim suffered scrapes, bruises and neck and back injuries.
Copyright 2012 - The Fresno Bee, Calif.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
