This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
An 8-year-old West Valley boy discovered the hard way Friday night that it's best to leave sliding up and down chimneys to Santa Claus.
West Valley police Sgt. Robert Hamilton said the boy disappeared Friday afternoon when his teenage siblings were supposed to be watching him, only to be found hours later trapped inside a chimney in the area of 4300 South and 4800 West, about four blocks from his home.
The boy had recently played with a grandchild visiting the couple at the home, so when he became thirsty, he remembered how nice the family had been to him and went there, Hamilton said. But when the boy got to the friend's house, he found the house locked.
"He decided those people were so nice they wouldn't mind if he got a drink in the house," he said.
The boy climbed a tree about 25 feet up to the roof and climbed into the chimney's square-foot opening. He made it about 30 feet — almost to the basement — before he became wedged, Hamilton said.
And there he remained for up to six hours before the homeowners returned, discovered their visitor and called for help about 8 p.m., about the same time the boy's mother reported him missing several blocks away.
"They could hear him crying," Hamilton said.
Hamilton said emergency crews were able to talk to the boy.
"He was surprisingly very calm on scene. His only worry was he was still thirsty when we got there," Hamilton said.
The boy could move his arms, so rescuers dropped water to him.
But because of the narrowness of the chimney and the twists and turns, it wasn't possible to drop a rope to the child and pull him out, Hamilton said.
The homeowners gave firefighters permission to chop an 8-by-5-foot hole in their wall to remove the boy.
A soot-covered firefighter then carried the soot-covered boy to his waiting mother, who started to cry when reunited with him, Hamilton said.
"He didn't have a scratch on him," Hamilton said. "They took him to the hospital. He was in great condition."
Hamilton said he didn't know who will end up paying for the home's repairs.
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