'What if' contestants weather 'emergencies'

John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 24, 2007 at midnight

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Nine strangers living in the relative comfort of a Denver bed and breakfast survived a weekend at times without water or electricity while spontaneously composing public service announcements.

Nobody got voted off the island, but in the end, a business editor for the Pueblo Chieftain won a $2,500 prize for collecting the most points in various tests of emergency preparedness.

"I'm probably going to use it to pay off some bills," said James Amos as videotaping of the four- day competition called "What if? Colorado" drew to a close Sunday afternoon at the Gregory Inn.

"Everybody did a pretty good job. We didn't have the weirdos you often see on reality TV," he said. "We really had some solid people."

Solid, but sometimes wet.

Bob Morrow, a 62-year-old dentist from Walsh, was dunked in a tank of water for failing to correctly answer three questions on emergency preparedness.

"It was so much better than I expected," said Morrow, whom his fellow contestants voted the best team player, a prize that won him a pair of tickets to a Denver Broncos football game.

"My daughter told me, 'You're going to be mad all the time, so just roll your eyes,' " he said.

But that didn't turn out to be the case.

"Every one of them was just tremendous," Morrow said.

ensslinj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5291

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