California firefighters release 1,000 small birds that were trapped in chimney

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. - It looked like a scene out of a horror movie. A thousand small birds were trapped in a chimney of a house in Santa Barbara County.

Firefighters were called to a home in Montecito Sunday night and found about 1,000 small birds trapped in the chimney, the fire department said in a social media post.

Firefighters and staff with the Santa Barbara County Animals Services worked together to safely free the birds. They had hoped for the birds to fly out of the flue on their own overnight, but when they returned in the morning the birds were still trapped at the base of the fireplace. 

County Animal Services then worked to design a chute system that would funnel the birds out of the fireplace and release them through the home’s back doors.

The birds were finally released.

"We are grateful for the positive outcome to this unusual call and the opportunity to problem-solve with our partners at Santa Barbara County Animal Services," the fire department wrote online. 

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