'SURVIVOR' Fireman turns up heat on opponents

Tom Westman set a show record with immunity victories.
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
Even the island of Palau has fires to fight. And in Sunday's "Survivor" finale, firefighter Tom Westman burned up the competition, winning the $1 million grand prize and a new car.
Meanwhile, runner-up Katie Gallagher went down in flames.
Tom dominated the contests, winning five out of seven individual immunity challenges, setting a record for the show. Even though he proved to be the biggest threat ever, he was rarely vulnerable to tribesmates' schemes.
Not that his tribe wasn't helping -- Koror won 11 out of 14 challenges against Ulong, including all of the immunity challenges. Tom was the de factor leader of the only tribe really in the game.
Strategic play
He also made good choices in alliances, starting with Ian Rosenberger and Katie Gallagher. Ian picked Katie and Tom as the first two members of Koror back on Day 2. And this threesome was still together until Day 38.
The day before, Tom won immunity but lost confidence in Ian, who was terrible at lying and admitted plotting against him. At tribal council, nice guy Tom voted against Ian, sending him to a tie-breaker with Jenn Lyon, the nanny from Encino, Calif. She lost, but even Ian's win seemed like a loss.
That night, Tom chewed out Ian, as did Katie. On Day 38, Ian awoke by himself, crying about how he didn't come to be the villain. He may have been a lousy liar, an overly sensitive schmuck, but he's no backstabber. The immunity challenge involved standing on buoys, and Tom knew he couldn't afford to lose. After nearly 12 hours, Ian forfeited in a deal to get his other estranged friend Katie into the final two.
By choice, Ian, the 23-year-old dolphin trainer from Key Largo, Fla., was tanked in his attempt to win back Tom's respect. Such was Tom's influence and character in the game.