Firefighters rescue duck stuck in chimney

A woman heard a bird in her fireplace on Wednesday, so she started a fire to flush the fowl away, a fire official said. The attempt, however, backfired. “She lit a fire, thinking the smoke would chase him out,” Santa Fe Fire Chief Tommy Anderson said. “Well, it didn’t chase him out, and it filled her house with smoke.”

Firefighters were called to the woman’s residence in the 6300 block of Avenue M, Anderson said. “The logs were out of it, and there was no fire at that point,” Anderson said. “We got the damper open, and a wing was hanging out.”



The bird, which is believed to be a Muscovy duck, was too big to flap its wings or fly from the chimney, Anderson said. “Firefighter Jim Cargile put on gloves, reached into the damper, grabbed hold of the duck’s legs and moved the wings over to one side, so he could pull him out,” Anderson said.

Cargile took the duck outside and released it, and it flew away, Anderson said. “I don’t know who was more scared, Jim or the duck,” Anderson said.