Posted on 05/05/2013 7:34:19 AM PDT by BenLurkin
SAN MATEO, Calif.—A limousine traveling on a major bridge in the San Francisco area burst into flames, killing five female passengers who were trapped inside and injuring four others who escaped, authorities said Sunday.
The limo was carrying nine female passengers and a male driver when it caught fire late Saturday on the San Mateo bridge, California Highway Patrol officer Art Montiel told The Associated Press.
The patrol said that smoke started coming out of the rear of the limo, and the driver pulled over as the vehicle quickly became engulfed in flames. Officers were trying to determine the cause of the blaze, which wasn't the result of an accident.
"We have no idea right now where they were going or where they were coming from," CHP officer Amelia Jack told KGO-TV.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailybulletin.com ...
I wonder why 2 of the gals were taken to Valley Medical in San Jose... it’s far from where they were...
Aaaaannnnd we have a new candidate for State Motto.
Oh man, you hit it good.
FMCDH(BITS)
People drink in the passenger compartments of limousines. Some liquors are flammable. Not just Everclear. Most brandy, Grand Marnier, cognac, others.
Vehicle interiors don’t just ignite, there was something that served as an accelerant. Freebasing has been mentioned, too. Would people freebasing in the back of a limousine be more or less inclined to be drinking Couvoisier, and would they even notice at first, if they’d lit something on fire unintentionally?
Illegal aliens have shut down many of the emergency rooms in the bay area.
Dunno, closest available burn unit maybe?
The other thread suggests the fire started in the trunk. I’m guessing multi-kilowatt stereo system cooked off.
Stanford and Valley Med are trauma centers.
http://www.emsa.ca.gov/systems/Trauma/default.asp
There are none in San Mateo County.
Well BenL it appears the other thread got to the bottom line, which is no emergency exits ahead of the back doors which were inaccesible due to the fire. No access to the front doors in such limos and no way out but the rear doors. When the trunk goes up in smoke you are trapped. Doesn’t happen very often but...
Shades of Apollo 1.
Given that the manufacture of stretch limousines, aftermarket as they are, might possibly not be as subject to regulation upon the use of flammable materials and often do involve fairly elaborate electrical components such as sound systems and interior light displays, I suppose that an electrical malfunction could have set the whole thing off, but rapidly enough to cause fatalities to a majority of passengers? That was more akin to an interior fireball, imho, so I still lean to a flammable substance, an accelerant of some kind.
Yes... i am sure it is because Valley Med in SJ has a burn unit... i just looked it up...
That and some flame retardants can be simply washed away with plain water. I’d guess a limo occasionally needs to be hosed out. Do that a few times, have an ill timed Everclear spill...
This is the bridge to San Jose.What a terrible tragedy!!!!!
Yes, i knew that about Stanford... i did not know that about Valley Med... until i just read that it has a burn unit...
Exactly!I spent the first 39-years of my life in California.I am a native of Santa Monica and I grew up in Malibu and whenever I am out there,I hardly recognize the place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Only one exit, it's through the flames, it's locked when the vehicle is in motion, and no Halon or other fire suppression system.
Plenty of places for greedy lawyers and grieving loved ones to point fingers.
Plenty pf places for conniving lawmakers to carve out reputations and fiefdoms.
Maybe they should go back to gasoline-powered limos, rather than trying to adapt a Chevy Volt.
Everclear is not to be trifled with, it puts Sterno to shame in the blue flame department and not nearly as subtle.
What is this other thread conclusion involving exit doors? Stretch Town Cars have the rear doors in the factory location, just ahead of the trunk, beside the original rear seat. The added “stretch” portion is in the middle of the car between the driver and the rear seat. Those closest to any fire originating in the trunk would feel or smell it first and be right beside the exit doors. If anyone was trapped it was because the driver didn’t stop so they could get out. Given the ugly choices at hand I’m surprised someone didn’t jump out of the moving vehicle. Incapacitated somehow?
The doors are locked to prevent a drunken passenger from taking a header out of a moving limo.
I drove by the accident last evening in the opposite direction. I got a brief look at the limo. By that time, the fire had been put out. However, it was obvious that there had been a fire in the rear passenger portion of the limo. From the perspective of my viewpoint, the driver’s side rear of the limo passenger compartment had been blown open by hot flames as if there had been a giant blowtorch pointed at the rear side window from the rear seat. The hole was about 2’ x 3’ in size. It was by far the most overt sign of damage to the vehicle from the oncoming traffic side view. It did not appear to me that the fire started elsewhere such as the gas tank or trunk and then spread to the passenger compartment; rather, it looked like it started in the passenger compartment. However, I do not have any particular expertise in that area.
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