Firefighters rescue woman from Koreatown middle school chimney vent

KOREATOWN, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Los Angeles firefighters rescued a woman stuck in a chimney vent at a middle school in Koreatown Saturday afternoon.

The Los Angeles Fire Department received a call around 6 p.m. and crews were sent to Virgil Middle School at 152 N. Vermont Ave.

Rescue personnel were able to safely get the woman out of the 2-square-foot vent. Officials said the woman's situation was related to an earlier "jumper" incident.

Earlier in the day, firefighters and police were called to the school on a report of a person who might want to jump off the three-story building. But when they arrived no one was found.

"We could not find anybody so we called it a false alarm. Out of an abundance of caution, L.A. Unified School District police arrived on scene and they searched the rooftop," Battalion Chief Charles Butler said.

A school police officer who went up to the roof heard the woman calling for help and notified authorities.

The firefighters rigged a rope and tied it to the fire truck ladder to hoist the woman out. She had on a T-shirt, underwear and boots.

She thanked her rescuers, but did not explain how she had gotten trapped in the chimney.

The woman had been trapped for about two hours before she was found, and it took firefighters more than an hour to get her out.

It was unclear if the woman was under the influence of drugs or alcohol or if she had a mental illness.

Paramedics transported the woman to a nearby hospital where she was given a psychiatric evaluation.

City News Service contributed to this report.