Limo Fire: Survivor Says Limo Driver Could Have Done More

Update — 8 p.m. An Oakland woman who survived the limo fire said in an interview published Monday night that the limo driver didn't do enough to help the women in the car.

Nelia Arellano, 36, told ABC7 News that when she knocked on the limo partition to report the fire and smoke the driver didn't respond immediately. She said when he did finally stop the car on the bridge Saturday night, he didn't do much to help her or the others escape.

"When he get out from that car, he just opened the door, that's all he did. I even ask him, 'Help me, help me,' because I bring out my head from that compartment and say help me, so I could squeeze myself over there and slide myself," Arellano said. "I even ask the driver, 'open the door, open the door!' He didn't do anything."

(Click here to see the video interview with Arellano.)

In an interview published Monday afternoon by the L.A. Times, the limo driver Orville Brown says that when one of the survivors opened the back door of the limo after he stopped it on the bridge, the car became engulfed in flames and there was nothing he could do.

He said his memory was "foggy" of how the women who survived the fire got out and described the whole scene as a "nightmare he never imagined would happen."

Meanwhile, two other survivors are listed in serious condition at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, according to a press release issued Monday afternoon.

They are Amalia Loyola of San Leandro and Jasmin Deguia of San Jose. Neither patients nor their families authorized the release of any additional information and are not granting media interviews.

While few new details were released at a press conference Monday about the limo fire that killed five women over the weekend, California Highway Patrol and local law enforcement said they are doing everything they can to find out what caused the horrific incident.

The limousine fire on the San Mateo Bridge killed five of the nine women traveling from Alameda to a bridal party in Foster City Saturday night.

The fire's cause remains unknown as does the reason five women were trapped in the back of the Lincoln Town Car as it burned on the westbound side of Highway 92.

The California Highway Patrol and Fire Departments from Foster City, San Mateo, and Hayward were dispatched and responded to the scene. Prior to their arrival, Good Samaritans, including an off-duty CHP officer stopped near the burning limousine and attempted to help.

Redwood City area CHP Capt. Mike Maskarich, offering his heartfelt condolences to the victims and their families Monday, said the investigation would take several weeks to complete.

San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault did not release the names of the women killed in the fire, but said it was possible they would be identified later Monday or Tuesday.

Toxicology reports will take two to three weeks to complete on the victims, he added.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, a psychologist at Colonial Acres Elementary School in Hayward reported that the mother of a third grader was among the victims who died in the fire.

School officials said the psychologist would be on hand for grief counseling with students or faculty. That student has a sibling at Arroyo High School in San Lorenzo. No other information was available. 

Counselors will also be available at Crown Bay Nursing and Residential Center in Alameda where Mary Guardiano is a nurse for 20 patients. Guardiano, 42, escaped the fire and was treated for smoke inhalation.

The CHP could not confirm Monday that the four women who survived the blaze escaped through an opening in the partition dividing the front seats from the passenger section, although that is the area where the five who died were found, Foucrault said. 

Victims were found inside the vehicle next to the partition that separates passengers from the driver; it appeared they were trying to get through and could not, according to a preliminary assessment of the situation by law enforcement officials.

Auto safety experts say information released so far raises key questions about why the victims were unable to escape.

The survivors included the driver Orville Brown, 46, of San Jose, who was uninjured; and passengers Jasmine Deguia, 34, of San Jose; Mary G. Guardiano, 42, of Alameda; Nelia Arrellano, 36, of Oakland; and Amalia Loyola, 48, of San Leandro. 

On Monday afternoon, Valley Medical Center reported that both Loyola and Deguia were in serious condition.  

The limo, considered a charter party carrier, is not regulated by the CHP, but by the Public Utilities Commission.

It is listed “for carrying eight or fewer passengers,” Maskarich noted Monday. “We will work with the PUC on what the regulations are, because as we know, there were nine passengers in the vehicle.

“We are devastated by this incident, and determined to find answers and the cause,” said Foster City Fire Department Chief Michael Keefe.

Check back here for updates to this story throughout the day.