Police have arrested a man who was rescued from a smoking chimney at a boarded-up house in Washington state.
The house in Everett, Washington, northeast of Seattle, had “no trespassing” signs on the property.
Neighbors reported smoke coming from the chimney of the house at roughly 8:30 a.m. local time Monday, the Everett Police Department said.
Police said upon their arrival, officers heard the accused trespasser and saw the smoke. The man, whom police did not publicly name, refused to come out, and officers tried going in the front door.
Simultaneously, the police said, the man climbed out of a second-story window and onto the roof of the house. Instead of coming down when asked by police, the man climbed into the smoking chimney and got stuck, the Everett Police Department said.
The Everett Fire Department was called to the scene. They found the man about 10 feet down the chimney, fire officials said, and only ash remained from the fire that had been producing smoke.
The man refused firefighters’ help in pulling him back up the chimney, and instead kept moving down inside it, fire officials said. Ultimately, firefighters had to remove the fireplace mantel and open a wall to get the man out.
The rescue took about 20 minutes, fire officials said. Police arrested him and took him to a local hospital for a medical evaluation, though they have not specified what charges the man will face.
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