Boy Rescued From Chimney, Gets Stuck After Locking Himself Out Of House [Video]

A boy was rescued from a chimney in Scottsdale, Florida, when he tried getting inside his house, but lost the key. Fire department rescue crews from Scottsdale, Phoenix, and Tempe responded to the incident Tuesday night around 7 p.m. In a report by Arizona Family, a 13-year-old attempted to get down the chimney with an extension cord he tied to a vent. As he descended down the chimney, he got stuck in the “flue” area, police say.

Once firefighters did their part in freeing the teen, technical rescue crews worked to “extricate” him.

Capt. Dave Folio of Scottsdale Fire Department described the “tight spot” the boy found himself in.

“It was about this wide, up top, where he went in. So he just literally went down, hanging onto that rope. he got down to that area and realized he couldn’t go out. He just sat there and called 911.”

Folio says once the boy realized he was truly stuck in the chimney, he used his cell phone to call 911 for help.

The New York Daily News adds in its report that the boy’s call reveals what he said talking to dispatchers at 911.

“Um I’m stuck down a chimney. I tried to climb out, but I can’t get out,” the boy said in a distressed tone of voice.

Crews gave the boy a mask and goggles to protect him from falling dust as he was being rescued in the extrication process. Crews smashed open the fireplace inside the house and safely got him out of the chimney without any injuries. The rescue time took about an hour. He was reportedly shaken up by the experience, however.

The teen’s parents weren’t home at the time of the event, but his parents were contacted to return home and stay with him following the rescue. The unidentified boy’s sister, Rachel Hollis, says he called her once he got home, finding the door locked while their mother and grandfather were at work. She says that she told him to wait for her to get home, but when she called back about a half-hour later, “he was already in the chimney, so I told him to call 911.”

Another story similar to this one has been written about by the Inquisitr, only the teen who got stuck in a chimney was actually a burglar. Once rescued he was promptly arrested by authorities.

[Photo Credit: KTVK via New York Daily News]