LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Fire officials say a Texas man who had to be rescued from the chimney of his house wasn’t trying to be Santa Claus. He was just locked out of his house.

Fire officials say they had to hoist the 22-year-old man by rope from the chimney of his house in southwest Lubbock early Monday.

Deputy Fire Marshal Robert Loveless tells the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (http://bit.ly/sb4ZlD ) that the man and his family were locked out of their house. Loveless says the man, wanting to save the price of a locksmith, decided to enter the house through the chimney as his wife and child waited outside around 1 a.m. Monday.

Loveless says the man’s wife called 911 after he became stuck. Firefighters hauled him out about an hour later. He was not injured.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.