Chimney

A 47-year-old Glen Burnie man was taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in critical condition after a fire broke out in his home Saturday afternoon, according to the Anne Arundel County Fire Department. Firefighters responded to the home in the 400 block of Blossom Lane about 3:55 p.m. for a report of a chimney fire and found a two-story single family home with flames visible at the rear of the first and second floors, sad Battalion Chief Steve Thompson, a fire department spokesman.

A 47-year-old Glen Burnie man was taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in critical condition after a fire broke out in his home Saturday afternoon, according to the Anne Arundel County Fire Department. Firefighters responded to the home in the 400 block of Blossom Lane about 3:55 p.m. for a report of a chimney fire and found a two-story single family home with flames visible at the rear of the first and second floors, sad Battalion Chief Steve Thompson, a fire department spokesman.

He's not exactly the storybook character Bert, ready to lead Mary Poppins' charges up a smoke stairway to the stars.But Brian Miller,a partner in Miller's Chimney Sweep of Westminster, will clean your flue just as thoroughly.A full-time sweep for the past five years, Miller said the familybusiness was started when his brother was out of work 13 years ago."Wayne worked at the Caterpillar plant in Dallastown, Pa., and when they went on strike, he had no job," Miller said. "So, he started the family business."

100 Years Ago A nickel a night Times ads: "Interesting, Moving Pictures, change each night, In the Banquet Hall of the HOWARD HOUSE Ellicott City, Commencing Saturday night, Nov. 30th Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday nights. Admission 5 cents. Wm. F. Kerger, Proprietor. " "For Rent: One new modern house and lot, with garden and storeroom for particulars. Address to C.H. Iglehart, Dayton, Md. or F.B. Cissel, Ellicott City, Md. " 75 Years Ago Fired up "Firemen fight Chimney, Field And Woods Fires," was the headline of a story in the news.

It's not a new idea, but it's still a pretty stupid one. A would-be burglar proved that yesterday when he inserted himself in a chimney in an effort to get inside a liquor store on Belair Road at Erdman Avenue in Baltimore.All he got was stuck.Darryll V. Boone, 28, of Clifton Park, would later tell police he jammed himself into the chimney of Belair Road Discount Liquors about 2 a.m. yesterday. But it wasn't until 5 a.m. that someone heard him yelling for help."I don't know how the guy ever thought he was going to get in," commented Calvin E. Granese, 56, the owner of the liquor store.

Ninety-three years of standing at attention have taken a toll on one of the Belvedere's four chimneys, causing it to move -- and traffic around 1 E. Chase St. to stop.Yesterday, a week after Belvedere employees noticed some movement in the northeast chimney of the 14-story building, the Department of Public Works closed the block of East Chase in front of the hotel, between North Charles and North Lovegrove streets, about 5 p.m.But for at least an hour afterward, some drivers in the rush-hour traffic missed the warning signs at Chase and St. Paul streets and had to come to a stop.

City police today were attempting to extricate the body of a young male wedged in a chimney of a linen shop in the 3500 block of Eastern Ave. in Highlandtown.Police were called to the scene, at Kent Linens Warehouse Outlet, about noon. Neighbors said they had been noticing a strange odor at the building for about two months.Homicide investigators also were sent to the scene.The body was discovered after a cover was removed from the top of the chimney. Officers using flashlights spotted the body.

The remains of a man who apparently got trapped while trying to break into an East Baltimore business were found in a sealed-up chimney there yesterday.Detective Charles R. Gilbert of the city's homicide unit said police could not immediately identify the body, which they estimated had been in the 1-foot-square chimney for several months. The chimney had been sealed at its base.The remains were taken to the state medical examiner's office for an autopsy.The grisly discovery was made just before 11 a.m. after officials at Kent Linens Warehouse Outlet in the 3500 block of Eastern Avenue telephoned the city Health Department to report an odor in the basement of the building.

A health inspector investigating complaints of a foul odor discovered a badly decomposed body wedged inside a chimney at the Kent Linens Warehouse Outlet in Highlandtown, police say.Workers at the store in the 3500 block of Eastern Ave. had been bothered by the smell for several months but had been unable to locate its source until yesterday, when the Baltimore Health Department was called in to investigate."

A Sykesville family of five stayed with friends and relatives after their two-story, split-level home was damaged by fire Tuesday, fire officials said.State fire marshals said the fire, which broke out near a wood stove at 4: 46 p.m., was caused by a faulty chimney. The home is in the first block of W. Old Liberty Road.William Hodgin, 52, sons William Jr., 21, Timothy, 18, Mark, 16, and daughter Jennifer, 20, were not at home when the fire was discovered by a neighbor.Firefighters from Winfield, Gamber and Sykesville brought the fire under control in about an hour.

James F. Barlow, a retired masonry contractor who drove a weapon carrier at Omaha Beach during the World War II Allied invasion, died Sept. 1 at St. Agnes Medical Center after suffering a fractured hip at his Academy Heights home. He was 87. Mr. Barlow was co-grand marshal of this year's Catonsville July 4th parade and was the commander of two veterans posts. He also led the parade in 1994 for the 50th anniversary of D-Day. Born in Baltimore and raised near Union Square, he attended 14 Holy Martyrs School and was a 1942 graduate of St. Martin's High School, where he was the center on the school's basketball team.

No matter how many times I passed this Jones Falls Valley landmark, the Mount Vernon Mill seemed ancient, frighteningly off-limits and more than a little mysterious. With its massive brick walls and heavy features, the textile mill was a grim industrial workhouse. I often thought of the hands toiling long at a dangerous job. Early this year, a veteran Baltimore developer, David Tufaro, and his daughter, Jennifer Nolley, initiated a $40 million restoration-conversion with what promises to be a dazzling piece of environmental design.

Every now and then, one of our local miscreants decides to break into a retail establishment by waiting until the wee hours and climbing down its chimney with the hope of gaining entry for grand theft. Often these chimneys haven't been used in years; they're sealed off with brick and mortar, then stuccoed. Same for the burglar - boy, does he get stuccoed. When he realizes that he can't climb out of the chimney, panic sets in. Hours, even days can go by before someone hears his pleas for help and calls the cops.

In the final years of his life, before he was diagnosed with cancer, metal artisan and designer John Gutierrez would light a bonfire outside his Woodberry studio and use the heat and flames to lure friends and colleagues into conversations that often lasted into the night. After his death earlier this year, those who spent time around that fire are now raising funds to keep this tradition going. They plan to erect a 25-foot chimney atop the fire pit that Gutierrez had built, that will vent potentially dangerous embers from adjoining buildings within the Clipper Mill complex where Gutierrez had his metal fabrication works.

Five-year-old Miriam heard them first. But her mother, Mary Talalay, didn't quite believe there were birds living in their suburban chimney. Then she heard them, too. The baby chimney swifts were chirping - and loudly - for food. Each summer, Baltimore becomes a way station for thousands of the small, brownish-black birds, on their long migration between North and South America. They nest and roost inside local brick and stone chimneys, their preferred summer homestead. Officials for the state Department of Natural Resources say homeowners sometimes mistake them for bats.

The owners of Preakness and Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown have agreed to a $50 million deal to syndicate the horse's breeding rights to Kentucky's Three Chimneys Farm, NBC Sports reported. Michael Iavarone, co-president of IEAH Stables, said he could not confirm the $50 million figure but said he was proud to do business with Three Chimneys. "We're so excited to ensure his future," he said in the winner's circle after the Preakness. "He deserves a good life after racing." The interest in the colt was hardly surprising given his dominance in five career starts, including the first two legs of this year's Triple Crown.

In the final years of his life, before he was diagnosed with cancer, metal artisan and designer John Gutierrez would light a bonfire outside his Woodberry studio and use the heat and flames to lure friends and colleagues into conversations that often lasted into the night. After his death earlier this year, those who spent time around that fire are now raising funds to keep this tradition going. They plan to erect a 25-foot chimney atop the fire pit that Gutierrez had built, that will vent potentially dangerous embers from adjoining buildings within the Clipper Mill complex where Gutierrez had his metal fabrication works.

SO SANTA GOT your letter, and there, by the tree, sits your heart's desire: A bright, shiny, new wood stove.Now it's time to give Santa something in return: A bright, shiny, new chimney.Chimneys come in two types:Double- or triple-walled "Class A" metal.Masonry.For a wood stove, you should seriously consider a metal chimney. They're fairly easy to install and relatively inexpensive. Masonry chimneys are beautiful, but they're expensive, and building one is far outside the skill level of the average homeowner.

Santa dropped down Dennis Mangold's chimney in Ten Hills on Christmas and left him a NOAA Weather Radio. He listens and wonders, "Are the broadcasts done in computer-generated voices, or is it an actual person?" That's text-to-speech software you hear. The previous cyber-voice, "Paul," had a vaguely Scandinavian accent. Jackie Hale of the Sterling, Va. forecast office said, "We took polls, and people said, `Get Sven off the radio!'" Hear Paul and his successors at www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/newvoice.

A body found wedged inside a chimney at a school in Lansdowne has been identified as that of a 19-year-old man who had been reported missing last week, police said yesterday. Zachary Scott Miller's body was identified through fingerprints, a Baltimore County police spokesman said. The body was found Wednesday afternoon at Riverview Elementary School, a few blocks from Miller's home. Disappeared July 26 Miller was last seen alive July 26 after being warned not to tell police about being robbed, authorities have said.