'Shocking': Cleveland firefighters rescue man wedged inside fireplace

CLEVELAND (WJW) — Cleveland firefighters were called to an unusual rescue on the city’s west side.

“The guys, they heard a loud moaning sound. And then we heard something that definitely sounded like knocking,” said resident Bob Smith.

Smith and several men who live in a recovery house in Kamm’s Corners decided to search the school next door.

“Once we were looking for the sound, we ended up at a brick wall. We could hear it beside a boiler room,” said Zachary Hahn, resident.

Cleveland Fire’s technical rescue team responded to the call of an entrapment Saturday night at St. Patrick’s School on Puritas Avenue.

“An adult male tried to enter the school from the chimney. He got about 20 feet down,” said Lt. Mike Norman, with the Cleveland Division of Fire.

Norman said firefighters tried to pull the man up from the top of the chimney but they were unable to get a line underneath him.

So, firefighters decided to breach the chimney from below, removing the bricks one by one until they were able to pull him out.

The man was taken to an area hospital in stable condition with no major injuries.

“I was actually looking down the space at where this guy was. How a human body even got in there was shocking to me,” said Hahn.

There is no information on who the man is and why he was trying to get into the school through the chimney in the first place.

ReportWire