A history buff since grade school, Randy Brooks has long wanted to tour the White House, but he never thought he would get his chance through a chimney.

“My old government teacher will probably flip when he hears I’m going to the White House,” said Brooks, 43, owner of Brooks Chimney Sweeping in Ojai, Calif.

Brooks is on a team of eight professionals selected to sweep 38 fireplace flues at the White House.

On paper, it’s a fairly routine job, except for the military snipers joining the crew on the roof. Swept every other year, some White House fireplaces rarely get used.

No one gets paid for the job, but that’s of little concern to Brooks. He said it marks the apex of his career, like a climber scaling Mount Kilimanjaro or a musician taking center stage at Carnegie Hall.

“It’s the Oval Office, the Lincoln Bedroom, the Cabinet Room, the president’s personal sleeping quarters. Think of all the decisions that have been made in these places over the years,” he said.

Brooks’ wife Traci will travel with him. The team is scheduled to work three days, and afterward, White House ushers traditionally provide a tour for workers and their families. The couple plan to stay and tour Washington afterwards.

“We can’t take photographs while we work,” said Brooks, a Ventura native and Ojai resident, “but on the tour day, we’re going to take a group photo on the roof. It’s going to be pretty incredible.”

How does a guy from Ojai end up in the White House? Knowing the right people, of course.

Jeff Schmittinger, owner of Wisconsin Chimney Technicians in Waukesha, has been cleaning the presidential chimneys for 15 years.

Schmittinger heard former President Bill Clinton give a televised address shortly after taking office in 1993. In a trying budget year, Clinton asked Americans to dig a little deeper to help fix the federal deficit. To show his commitment, Clinton said he would trim his staff.

So Schmittinger called the White House and offered his services for free. After being bounced around a dozen offices, he was told to explain his offer in a letter.

Six weeks later, the administration replied, and by chance, the annual national convention of the chimney sweep guild was in Washington, D.C., that year. He took a tour of the White House and scored the contract, agreeing to never charge and never advertise.

“It was my little contribution to help with the nation’s budget deficit,” Schmittinger, 56, said this week by telephone. “When you stand on the roof of the White House, you think, ‘My God, how does this happen to a guy who works on chimneys?’ But that’s what’s great about this country. Anything is possible. It’s just a matter of finding a way to do it and following up on it.”

In the last few years, Schmittinger has opened a couple of slots on his team and urged professionals around the country to apply. Brooks rose to the top.