The California teenager who got stuck in the chimney of his family's home was no Santa Claus trying to deliver holiday gifts.

Instead, 18-year-old Jorge Herrera was trying to get around his parents' curfew, authorities say, by entering his home through the fireplace in his bedroom.

"He was going to miss his curfew, and then he had climbed down the chimney in an attempt to avoid the wrath of his parents," said Van Riviere, battalion chief with the Stockton Fire Department.

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Fire department officials responded to a call for help placed by Herrera's family around 10 a.m. Thursday after they heard sounds coming from the chimney of their Stockton, Calif., home.

Firefighters found Herrera stuck inside.  An hour later, Herrera was freed from the chimney, but not before firefighters had to first break the chimney apart and then use ropes, and a little soap, to pull him out of the narrow chimney.  He was not hurt.

"He's dirty and embarrassed and it remains to be seen what his parents will do with him," said Battalion Chief Van Riviere.