07/15/2003 | KH6SH/K7 On Thursday evening before the contest, an out-of-control wildfire started on our mountain that garnered my attention all evening longand it proved to be a factor for several days. An evacuation of our neighborhood was ordered by 0330 local on Friday morning, but I did not see any fire crews dedicated to protecting my ham shack. Donning my nomex flightsuit and garden hose, I remained in position to battle the fire if necessary. Though flames roared within a few hundred feet of the homes, the fire transited away from the neighborhood due to favorable winds. The armada of fire response vehicles, fleet of Slurry Bomber aircraft and helicopters droning through the thick smoke did not really affect QRN by the start of the contest. I tried using the on-going conflagration threat as an excuse not to go into work during the contest, but that did not even get me a cup of coffee from the boss. I was only able to operate for eleven hours as my Air Force unit had a flying exercise through the weekend. I spent the other 13 hours of the contest in full chemical gear and gas mask with local temperatures at 39 deg C (102 deg F). All I could think about was all the European, Central and South American contacts I was missing. Perhaps the natural disasters and Air Force schedulers will cooperate next year. Mahalo to those who were around all night long on 7 and 3.5 CW!! P.S. There are no sleep-cycle issues if you just do not go to sleep!! Aloha!! -- KH6SH