THE Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District in California rescued a paraglider dressed as Santa on Monday after he became tangled in power lines while trying to deliver candy canes from the sky.

A man dressed in full Santa gear had just lifted off from his Rio Linda neighborhood north of Sacramento, intending to shower children below with candy canes. But his paraglider sleigh got caught in some power lines, suspending the man for an hour before firefighters safely lowered him to the ground.

“He was in good enough spirits, considering what happened,” said Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District spokesman Chris Vestal, declining to give the man’s name. “He was disappointed he didn’t get to finish his task.”

A “semi-local celebrity,” the man was headed to a community event when his trip was derailed, Vestal said. The cause of Claus’ incident — perhaps morning fog, wind or faulty directions to the North Pole — remains unclear.

“Could have been any number of factors that could have caused him to become distracted and blown him into the power lines,” Vestal said.

Power was shut off to about 200 people as firefighters worked to extract the jolly old elf from the lines, Vestal said. His seatbelt strapped him to the machine, keeping him from falling out. Firefighters used an aerial ladder to meet the man midair and lower him to safety.(SD-Agencies)