California authorities say it remains unclear what caused a deadly limousine fire on Saturday night. The blaze, which killed a bride-to-be and four of her friends, appears to have started in the trunk of the white Lincoln stretch limo.
"Looking at the photos, it appears it started in the trunk," said California Highway Patrol spokesman Ron Simmons. "But at this time, we don't know officially if the fire started inside the vehicle or on the exterior."
The limousine company, LimoStop.Inc., said it was working with authorities on the investigation. "LimoStop Inc. will do everything possible to investigate and assist authorities in determining the cause of this fire in order to help bring forth answers and provide closure to the victims and their families,” the company said in a statement.
The bride-to-be has been identified as 31-year-old registered nurse Neriza Fojas. Fojas planned to hold her wedding next month in her native Philippines. The four other women who died have not been identified. Medical examiners will use dental records to identify them because they were so badly burned. Autopsies and toxicology tests will be performed. Authorities say they were all found pressed against the partition that divides the driver’s area from the passenger’s area.
The four friends who survived have been identified as 42-year-old Mary G. Guardiano, 34-year-old Jasmine Desguia, 36-year-old Nelia Arrellano, and 48-year-old Amalia Loyola, 48. They are all hospitalized for burns and smoke inhalation.
The limo driver, Ricky Brown, escaped the vehicle unharmed. Brown was supposed to drive the women from Oakland to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Foster City. He told the San Francisco Chronicle that one of the women knocked on the partition as they traveled on San Mateo-Hayward Bridge shortly after 10 p.m. and said something about smoke.
“They had the music up in the back, and I figured she was asking, 'Can I smoke?'' said Brown. “I said, 'The owner doesn't allow smoking in the car, and we only have four minutes to the destination.''
About 15 seconds later the women began banging on the partition and screaming at him to pull over. It took Brown about 30 seconds to pull over. “At that point, there was a lot of smoke. It was coming through so fast. I'm not even out of the car and one (woman) is coming through the partition. I believe that was the one that booked the trip,” he revealed.
As Brown helped the three other survivors escape, the first woman out of the car opened the passenger door to save her friends. “When she opened that back door, I knew it wasn't a good scene. I figured with all that fire that they were gone, man. There were just so many flames. Within maybe 90 seconds, the car was fully engulfed,” Brown added.
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