That's when they decided to burn the first snowmobile, he said.
The second one went up in flames a few hours later, again for heat. The third became the signal fire that attracted help and saved the lives of Fears, 40, John Holtry, 27, and Shane Seurer, 25.
It was a small price to pay, Fears said.
The three friends became stranded after setting out from Fairbanks last Saturday. Driving in flat light, they ended up in a ravine where their snowmobiles mired down and the snow was too deep for them to make any headway.
They went to sleep in 20 below zero temperatures. They woke up sopping wet and freezing, Fears said.
``It was burn a snowmachine or die,'' he said.
It put off a lot of black smoke for 90 minutes. At 9:30 a.m. Sunday, however, nobody was watching. They torched the second one about 2 p.m.
Then Fears heard snowmobiles a few ridges over. ``Burn it now!'' he said of the last one.
About 45 minutes later, Bill Pugh popped over the ridge with his son and a friend. The trio eventually got Fears and friends back to the highway.
