# How small would a person have to be to enter a house through the chimney? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 27, 2014, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-would-a-person-have-to-be-to-enter-a-house-through-the-chimney/702617 "2014-10-27T00:33:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-would-a-person-have-to-be-to-enter-a-house-through-the-chimney/702617/1 "2014-10-27T00:33:46Z")
[Re this news story](http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/genoveva-nunez-figueroa-stuck-in-chimney-of-boyfriends-home-rescued-20142110)about a crazy ex-GF that tried to do just that I’ve seen a few of these “burglar stuck in chimney” stories over the years with people getting stuck while doing this, sometimes fatally. Assuming we’re not taking giant castle fireplace chimneys but average residential chimneys, I’ve looked up a flue or two in my time and the chimney diameter did not seem that large. How tiny would you have to be to actually accomplish this? Beyond this how would you get past a closed damper? The whole idea seems impossible. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-would-a-person-have-to-be-to-enter-a-house-through-the-chimney/702617/2 "2014-10-27T00:45:47Z")
you might have a flue damper (smoke valve in the chimney) which pivots on a rod pasting through the middle of the opening. only an 8" thick person would fit. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-would-a-person-have-to-be-to-enter-a-house-through-the-chimney/702617/3 "2014-10-27T03:48:50Z")
I thought that was going to be the story of the ex-GF, who was an attorney, so probably not rock stupid, who got stuck in the chimney, and they didn’t find out until her corpse started dripping :eek: It was a couple of years ago- I don’t want to look for it. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-would-a-person-have-to-be-to-enter-a-house-through-the-chimney/702617/4 "2014-10-27T04:46:42Z")
Are there any standard size for chimneys? It seems to me it varies a lot. ---
**Author:** ![eastcheap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8491ac/32.png) [@eastcheap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eastcheap)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-would-a-person-have-to-be-to-enter-a-house-through-the-chimney/702617/5 "2014-10-27T06:22:17Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Are there any standard size for chimneys? It seems to me it varies a lot. Whats more, quite often that big stack of bricks on the roof is concealing one or more fairly small, and ugly, pipes. Chimney sweeps used to — well, basically, buy — very small (by current standards) children to climb up into the flues. Even they occasionally got stuck. ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-would-a-person-have-to-be-to-enter-a-house-through-the-chimney/702617/6 "2014-10-27T07:31:03Z")
To enter a home through a chimney, you must be the size of an elf. If the elf is elderly and jolly, that’s a plus. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-would-a-person-have-to-be-to-enter-a-house-through-the-chimney/702617/7 "2014-10-27T08:30:09Z")
Basically chimneys people could go down were chimneys for fireplaces and these chimneys were probably pre-World War II. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-would-a-person-have-to-be-to-enter-a-house-through-the-chimney/702617/8 "2014-10-27T09:38:28Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I thought that was going to be the story of the ex-GF, who was an attorney, so probably not rock stupid, who got stuck in the chimney, and they didn’t find out until her corpse started dripping :eek: > It was a couple of years ago- I don’t want to look for it. 2010, and she was a doctor - also in California: As you say over there - Go figure. > **[Body of doctor found inside chimney after she tried to break into boyfriend's...](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1307975/Woman-dies-stuck-lovers-chimney-tried-break-home.html)** > > Dr Jacquelyn Kotarac, 49, tried to get into the house in Bakersfield, California, with a shovel, then climbed a ladder, removed the chimney cap and slid down feet first. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-would-a-person-have-to-be-to-enter-a-house-through-the-chimney/702617/9 "2014-10-27T10:38:33Z")
This is why doctors and lawyers usually don’t make house calls.