CT man survives days stuck in furnace

WEST HARTFORD, Connecticut (WTNH/AP) - No one had heard from Jonathan Metz in days. When police went into his house they got a big surprise -- the missing man was stuck in the furnace of his own home.

"I got an e-mail from one of his friends at work who said that he hadn't showed up at work for a couple of days so I popped by to see what was going on," Luca DiGregorio said. "He wasn't at our softball game last night."

Friends say Metz has lived in his house for years. They also say he's a quiet guy. But when he didn't answer his phone or return messages they knew something was wrong.

"I saw his car here. I rang the door bell, no one answered. Checked the front door, it was locked," DiGregorio said. "I went around back and I saw the dog in back and I didn't really know what else to do so I called the cops."

It turns out Metz was trapped in his basement. His arm was stuck in the furnace for at least three days.

Firefighters say they didn't know what to make of the call. They brought everybody and everything in, including the ladder truck which had the heavy rescue tools on board.

"We actually used hand tools and we also used the spreader that we would normally use to take the door off a car," West Hartford Fire Chief Matt Stuart said.

"It's a very unusual call," Chief Stuart said.

Firefighters said it took almost a half hour to dismantle and cut apart the furnace. Metz was mumbling a little, so they aren't sure how long he had been trapped.

His friends say no one had seen him since he left work on last Friday.

"I don't even have words to describe what that must be like," neighbor Allie Kovaleski said.

Neighbors said Metz is a great guy who helped them shovel out in big storms. They will watch his dog Porsche until he is released from the hospital.

"I saw him when they brought him out," Kovaleski said. "He had a mask on his face. He was covered with a sheet so I couldn't see much, but I guess he was conscious," she replied.

Friends and neighbors who live in the area are very concerned about him. They have been to visit him in the hospital and they hope he gets out soon.

Update from the AP at 3:10 p.m.  A surgeon says the Connecticut man trapped for at least three days with his arm stuck in the furnace in his basement cut his own arm nearly off because of a spreading infection.

Dr. Scott Ellner of St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center said Thursday that Jonathan Metz used his own tools to cut through his arm near the shoulder Tuesday after smelling dead tissue. He said Metz likely saved his own life, but must have been in indescribable pain.

Metz's arm became trapped as he worked to replace the fins on the furnace Sunday. He was rescued Wednesday night after friends noticed he was missing. Ellner says Metz fashioned his own tourniquet before cutting through his arm and drank some of the water that had leaked from the furnace to stay alive.