MSNBC.COM - Three teenage boys stuck for a night in Routt
National Forest in Moffat County during a snowmobiling trip survived
through a blizzard and temperatures in the teens by burning what they
could -- including a snowmobile -- to stay warm, NBC station KUSA of
Denver reports.
Justin McAlexander, 17, Jessie Burke, 17, and Burke's 13-year-old
brother, Mason, got stranded Sunday near Freeman Reservoir north of
Craig, or about 75 miles by road northeast of Steamboat Springs. They
were supposed to return home by 5 that evening, but their snowmobiles
got caught in 2 to 3 feet of snow.
"I called in search and rescue and told them where we were," Justin
told KUSA. "Then I started digging a pit, which I dug about 6 or 7 feet
down. I pulled my friend Jessie in because his foot was frozen and I
pulled his little brother into the pit."
Justin said he collected firewood, which he lit inside the pit, and
the blaze lasted for about five hours. When that went out, the boys sat
in the cold for about two hours, KUSA said.
So Justin took matches
from his survival kit and threw a match into the snowmobile's fuel
tank, which burned for about two hours, KUSA reported.
"That's the
only thing that we've got left to burn," Justin said. "It was gasoline
and we all know that gasoline catches fire real quick. So I lit a match
dropped it in the tank and figured, if anything, that would give them a
big enough flame to see us." click here to read the full story
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