New Haven firefighters sawed through a quarter-inch staineless-steel chimney liner Saturday to rescue a man who fell down a chimney.
The man was subsequently pronounced dead at the hospital.
The dramatic two-part rescue strategy unfolded after the fire department received a call at 10:11 .am. about a man falling down a 40-foot chimney at Yale’s power plant on Tower Parkway.
Here’s what happened, according to Assistant Fire Chief Matt Marcarelli:
The victim, who was 53 and apparently lived in Oregon, was working with a crew from a New York state-based chimney-repair company, International Chimney. The company was called in to install a quarter-inch stainless-steel liner in the chimney.
The fire department’s Engine 6 was the first company to arrive on the scene. Chimney workers led the firefighters to an access point above the chimney, about 50 feet up in the air. The firefighters could see the worker at the bottom. “We weren’t sure what the hazard of the space was — meaning there [could be] oxygen deprivation — so we decided not to go to the bottom of the shaft” from that point, Marcarelli said.
Another chimney worker had climbed to the bottom to “render aid” to the injured fallen worker.
Meanwhile, firefighters from Squad 1 arrived. They were led to “an old access point” used to clean the bottom of the chimney. But when firefighters tried to get inside, they “faced that [new] quarter-inch stainless-steel flue,” Marcarelli said. “Our torches don’t cut stainless steel.”
NHFD
The firefighters used hand saws instead. They cut a hole (pictured above), went inside, and extricated the victim.
Meanwhile, a rescue team had gathered at the top of the chimney to prepare to lower themselves down if they had been needed. “We were ready to, but they were able to get him out from the bottom, which was less dangerous for our people.”
Marcarelli said the victim’s family had requested that his name not be released.
