mtfester@netMAPSONscape.net wrote:

> Yes, we had a nice view of you guys burning down there; the Hotel (see
> below) was cut off, as was power, 'cept for a generator that they had
> going. Since we couldn't get off the mountain, the hotel staff 
> served everyone gratis for about a day-and-a-half. I can remember
> looking out and seeing these little (from that distance) circles of
> of fire spreading out ever so slowly...
> 
My wife was actually planning on going to work; she figured she was 
already awake, so she'd go in early and beat rush hour for once. From 
our apartment we had a very narrow view of the sky, and it really just 
looked overcast (it wasn't long after sunrise at this point). Then our 
phone rang and I could here my mother in law frantically asking if we 
were safe. Then she told us what was happening, only a block or so away 
as we discovered.

We hiked up on Rokko that afternoon with a friend from Austria and we 
sat there drinking beer and watching the city burn.

John W.