‘Tis the season.
A Westminster man locked out of his house early Friday tried to slide down the chimney, only to get wedged 12 feet down.
Firefighters and police were called to the house in the 8000 block of Decatur Street about 3 a.m., after a report of a man on the roof. Firefighters said they didn’t know who made the call and the name of the man in the chimney was not released.
“He had popped the top off the chimney and pushed the flue pipe out of the way,” Deputy Chief Ken Watkins said. “He wasn’t in the section of the chimney where the smoke came up because he had pushed the pipe away. But there was nothing for him to hold on to and he suffered some injuries in the fall.”
Firefighters lowered a small roof ladder, only 12 inches wide, into the chimney. A firefighter climbed down the ladder, secured the man and both were hoisted out, Watkins said.
The Westminster Fire Department warned other would-be Santas that they should never attempt to climb down a chimney. Most home chimney shafts are only 8 to 16 inches in diameter and narrow to a damper located at the end of the smoke shelf. This damper sits at an angle, designed to help eliminate drafts from the outside, and typically has a 4-inch opening.
