A man who apparently spent the night in a restaurant’s stove flue was rescued Tuesday by Santa Maria firefighters.
Employees of the Las Comadres Salvadorean restaurant at 202 W. Main St. reportedly heard unusual sounds and called authorities at 12:15 p.m.
“He was in there for a while,” Battalion Chief Mike Barneich said.
The commercial stove flue was rectangular, and just big enough for the man to fit in, Barneich said.
Firefighters called in the department’s urban search and rescue crew to assist with removing the trapped man.
“Firefighters had to extricate the individual from the bottom of the flue after determining the male could not be rescued from the same location that he had entered,” Barneich said.
After being extricated, AMR personnel transported the man, whose name wasn’t released, was taken to Marian Regional Medical Center for treatment of dehydration and other minor injuries.
Barneich said he did not know why the man had crawled into the stove flue.
Santa Maria police Sgt. Jesus Valle said officers are investigating the incident as a potential commercial burglary.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
