A woman is rescued after being trapped inside a chimney head-first for nearly an hour in San Diego.
On Sunday evening just before 5 p.m., The San Diego Police Department received reports involving domestic violence at a Paradise Hills household on Alleghany Street and Flintridge Drive. The report eventually led to an update of one of the suspects head being stuck inside the home chimney, which led to the involvement of fire rescue resources.
Tommy Charpentier, battalion chief of the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department says that by the time they arrived, the suspect's head was already six feet off the ground.
“When we had crews first arrive at scene, we did confirm that she was stuck headfirst with her feet up in the chimney,” Charpentier told the media. “About midway down, her head was six feet off the ground and she was eight or ten feet from the top of the chimney.”
According to officials, the rescue team on the scene had to resolve the issue by bringing in rope and wench system in order to rescue the unidentified woman.
“We had crews inside to breach the wall to access her, as well as crews go to the roof of the house and use a tripod and rope and wench system,” Charpentier said. “And that’s how we ended up getting her out, pulling her up out of top of the chimney and then putting her into a basket to bring her safely down off the roof.”
Authorities say that the woman was later removed half an hour after the rescue began and was then hospitalized, where the condition of her health remains unknown.
The battalion chief says that the life-saving effort was a collaborative coordination between the Chula Vista and National City rescue departments, along with San Diego police.
Any information on how the woman ended up in the chimney has not yet been released to the public.
