Trapped teenager rescued from chimney

Sometimes we have to learn the hard way that not all ideas are good ones.

That was the case for a Phoenix teenager who last week found herself trapped inside a chimney for over 90 minutes when a daring effort to solve the familiar problem of being locked out didn’t go to plan.

The unidentified 17-year-old girl had returned with her friend Yasmeen after a night out, only for the two to discover that they couldn’t get into Yasmeen’s home, off 17^th Avenue and Baseline Road.

After weighing up the options, the teenager hit on the chimney as their best bet for gaining entry with minimum fuss. But it was a decision she was soon to rue, as she got stuck climbing down the smokestack.

“I didn’t know it was blocked in the bottom,” Yasmeen told FOX 10. “She went down and she started freaking out. She was, like, ‘call 911!’ She couldn’t breathe.”

Phoenix firefighters arriving on the scene were eventually able to to hoist the girl out using a tripod set up over the chimney. The rescue effort, which alone took over 40 minutes, was streamed live by FOX 10 Phoenix and Fox News Now.

“I don’t know what we were thinking,” said Yasmeen. Nor did Yasmeen’s parents, who were forced to rush home from the movies. “They were so mad,” she said. “Really mad.”

The foolhardy climber, who declined an interview and medical attention, got covered in soot but otherwise emerged unscathed and happy to be freed.