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Liberal_in_LA

(44,397 posts)
Sun Nov 29, 2015, 08:39 PM Nov 2015

Suspected burglar stuck in Huron home’s chimney dies after residents light fire

Source: Fresnobee

man who apparently got stuck in the chimney of a Huron home during a botched burglary attempt died Saturday after the homeowners lit a fire in the fireplace, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said.

Lt. Brandon Pursell said deputies received a 911 call to the 16000 block of West Gale Avenue just before 3 p.m. After lighting a fire, the male homeowner heard screaming coming from somewhere inside the house. When the resident realized a person was in the chimney, he extinguished the fire.

Deputies and firefighters had to smash the chimney to get the man out. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The Fresno County coroner will perform an autopsy to confirm a cause of death. The man’s identity is being withheld pending notification of his family.

Investigators believe he had attempted to break into the home sometime during the evening hours of Nov. 27. He had remained in the chimney all day.

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/crime/article46988790.html#storylink=cpy
Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/crime/article46988790.html#storylink=cpy

Read more: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/crime/article46988790.html

33 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Suspected burglar stuck in Huron home’s chimney dies after residents light fire (Original Post) Liberal_in_LA Nov 2015 OP
And a Fox News bobblehead found the death pretty amusing: demmiblue Nov 2015 #1
Well, the guy WAS pretty dumb trying to go down a chimney. PatrickforO Nov 2015 #2
Lack of empathy on parade. SusanCalvin Nov 2015 #4
Well, maybe Cheney... catbyte Nov 2015 #11
I could see being sympathetic, but how many can be empathetic for a guy stuck in a chimney? Drahthaardogs Nov 2015 #28
Me! SusanCalvin Dec 2015 #32
Florida Man's cousin, California Man. madinmaryland Nov 2015 #3
What a horrible way to die. n/t Little Tich Nov 2015 #5
as bad as Huron is, he came out ahead reddread Nov 2015 #7
It seems someone should make a PSA about fireplaces edgineered Nov 2015 #6
I wonder if they think if Santa LiberalElite Nov 2015 #8
Being fed misinformation has a long, long history. edgineered Nov 2015 #13
The average criminal mind is not a towering intellect. nt Bernardo de La Paz Nov 2015 #12
You've got that right. edgineered Nov 2015 #15
Meth. AngryAmish Nov 2015 #29
There's more to this story Android3.14 Nov 2015 #9
Like maybe the homeowner started the fire AFTER hearing the burglar? Liberal_in_LA Nov 2015 #10
No. Like the homeowner wanted his house busted open? Bernardo de La Paz Nov 2015 #14
I think that's what the Fox News Cupcake was trying to imply Pool Hall Ace Nov 2015 #25
considering the weather has dipped into freezing reddread Nov 2015 #16
Before libelling someone like that, remember that the police are referring to other residents. Yo_Mama Nov 2015 #26
Definitely see your point, but still disagree. Android3.14 Nov 2015 #27
Something like that happened at Pancake Pantry, Nashville Tn. alfredo Nov 2015 #17
There was a story like this a couple months ago ... kwassa Nov 2015 #18
that's so sad renate Dec 2015 #31
If he down the chimney feet first, um, well.......... NickB79 Nov 2015 #19
Like Blandocyte Nov 2015 #23
"Daddy! You killed Santa!" randome Nov 2015 #20
All together now: Lizzie Poppet Nov 2015 #21
Note to self:Don't break into houses Blandocyte Nov 2015 #22
Happened once in Madison Jimbo S Nov 2015 #24
This reminded me of this incident Crabby Appleton Dec 2015 #30
Proof positive the majority of criminals are not very bright. Vinca Dec 2015 #33

PatrickforO

(14,516 posts)
2. Well, the guy WAS pretty dumb trying to go down a chimney.
Sun Nov 29, 2015, 09:08 PM
Nov 2015

But it is a sad way to die. And very painful, which is not funny at all.

SusanCalvin

(6,592 posts)
32. Me!
Tue Dec 1, 2015, 07:48 AM
Dec 2015

I can't picture myself being a dumb crook, sure, but I can sure picture being stuck in that predicament, if I were dumb enough to get into it.

edgineered

(2,101 posts)
6. It seems someone should make a PSA about fireplaces
Sun Nov 29, 2015, 10:14 PM
Nov 2015

It is understandable that people who know nothing about construction can think that a chimney is simply a large hollow shaft leading into a house. If more potential crooks knew that there were dampers on fireboxes and that flues may only be a few inches across, they may not kill themselves as often.

Rant off - ignore this reply. I know better.

edgineered

(2,101 posts)
13. Being fed misinformation has a long, long history.
Sun Nov 29, 2015, 10:48 PM
Nov 2015

While not shown in the various film versions of The Count of Monte Cristo, in the book Bertuccio, who pretended to be the Count of Cavalcanti, slid down the chimney into the hotel room that the daughters of Villeforts and Danglars had hidden in and commenced their love affair after the ruin of Danglars.

The affair between the daughters and the chimney drop made for two surprises. Dumas wrote the book in 1844. Surprise, surprise!

edgineered

(2,101 posts)
15. You've got that right.
Sun Nov 29, 2015, 10:52 PM
Nov 2015

They have trouble with the part about how LE has all the cards, whereas they seem to think that their split second hare-brained plans turn them into super villians and master minds. Maybe its better to leave things alone.

Pool Hall Ace

(5,849 posts)
25. I think that's what the Fox News Cupcake was trying to imply
Mon Nov 30, 2015, 08:48 PM
Nov 2015

the way she said " . . . and LATER decided to call 911."

 

reddread

(6,896 posts)
16. considering the weather has dipped into freezing
Sun Nov 29, 2015, 11:22 PM
Nov 2015

and a lot of other unsettling and unsavory things about Huron,
Seeking shelter from the cold might be a possibility. I dont think everyone thinks they can
be st nick.

Yo_Mama

(8,303 posts)
26. Before libelling someone like that, remember that the police are referring to other residents.
Mon Nov 30, 2015, 09:17 PM
Nov 2015

If you really believe in a whole family of sociopaths, okay, but it says more about you than the person who lit a fire in his fireplace with a ghastly result.

The would-be break-in artist had probably lost consciousness, and was hideously jolted back to awareness by pain.

Chimneys aren't designed for people to stay in there for hours breathing fresh air. He was slowly suffocating, I am sure. There are fine particulates and little air circulation with the damper closed.

 

Android3.14

(5,402 posts)
27. Definitely see your point, but still disagree.
Mon Nov 30, 2015, 10:05 PM
Nov 2015

It would be difficult to breathe and the scenario you described is reasonable, though the circumstances leading up to it are so obscure at this point.

That was an average chimney from the picture I saw, and the ones in this part of New England are too small for a man to crawl down. I doubt I could crawl down or up an average chimney when I was a teenager. If by some sequence of events a man ends up choking quietly in the fireplace chimney and someone then lights a wood fire, it is not that difficult to put out the fire with kitchen water or even hauling the wood out of the fireplace. Given the person clogging the chimney is so needy of oxygen that the thief is choking to death, it seems the system wouldn't vent worth beans, so how did they get a roaring fire going, and why didn't they put it out when they heard the guy screaming?

I'm not libeling anyone. I'm saying that the story sounds off. I'd ask more questions.

alfredo

(60,065 posts)
17. Something like that happened at Pancake Pantry, Nashville Tn.
Mon Nov 30, 2015, 12:03 AM
Nov 2015

He tried to enter through the grill exhaust, but got stuck. To make matters worse, someone left the grill on, and the poor sap was slow cooked to death. His tennis shoes melted.

It was an ex employee.

kwassa

(23,340 posts)
18. There was a story like this a couple months ago ...
Mon Nov 30, 2015, 01:04 AM
Nov 2015

except someone was stuck, but not cooked.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/10/01/body-missing-teen-found-chimney-years/73137192/

Human remains found in an abandoned cabin are those of a Colorado 18-year-old who went missing seven years ago, according to local officials.

Dental records confirmed that the remains were those of Joshua Vernon Maddux, who went missing in 2008, Teller County Coroner Al Born told AP.

Investigators think Maddux was likely trying to squeeze down the chimney when he became stuck, AP reported.

Chuck Murphy, the owner of the cabin, said the cabin was vacant for 10 years, the Colorado Springs Gazette reported.

Murphy said he checked on the property periodically and that "it smelled bad," the Gazette reported.

The body was discovered on Aug. 7, when Murphy and a crew were tearing the cabin down to make way for a new development, the Gazette reported.

renate

(13,776 posts)
31. that's so sad
Tue Dec 1, 2015, 05:38 AM
Dec 2015

An awful way to die, but it's also so sad for his family. I can't even begin to imagine what it'd be like to wonder what happened to an 18-year-old who'd been missing for seven years. How awful.

 

randome

(34,845 posts)
20. "Daddy! You killed Santa!"
Mon Nov 30, 2015, 05:28 PM
Nov 2015

[hr][font color="blue"][center]“If you're not committed to anything, you're just taking up space.”
Gregory Peck, Mirage (1965)
[/center][/font][hr]

Jimbo S

(2,955 posts)
24. Happened once in Madison
Mon Nov 30, 2015, 06:30 PM
Nov 2015

A few years back, a skeleton was found stuck in a chimney. A skeleton of a male. A skeleton of a male in women's clothes. Don't think this was ever solved.

Crabby Appleton

(5,231 posts)
30. This reminded me of this incident
Tue Dec 1, 2015, 01:45 AM
Dec 2015
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/09/01/california.chimney.death/


(CNN) -- The decomposed body of a California doctor was found lodged in her boyfriend's chimney, several days after she had apparently attempted to get inside his home, police said.

Internist Jacquelyn Kotarac, 49, had been reported missing on Thursday, Bakersfield, California, police said in a statement Tuesday. Her body was found lodged in the fireplace flue on Saturday.

Kotarac was last seen Wednesday night at about 10:15 p.m., "trying to force her way inside (the home) as she was involved in a dating relationship with the resident," police said. "The resident left the house undetected to avoid a confrontation and stayed the night elsewhere."

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