Volcano in Alaska blows 'like a Roman candle'

Pavlof Volcano, near the tip of the Alaska Peninsula, blew its top in a spectacular display of shooting flames, soaring ash plumes, and a fiery cascade of lava.

"It started about 4 p.m. and we could see it all the way up through midnight when the clouds came," said Glen Roberts of the National Weather Service station at Cold Bay. "It was like the Fourth of July in November -- a giant Roman candle."

Pavlof Mountain is one of several active volcanoes stretching from the Alaska Peninsula near Anchorage on through the chain of Aleutian Islands.