Two Boys Die in Fiery Tustin Car Crash

Despite neighbors’ efforts to put out the blaze with fire extinguishers and a garden hose, two young half-brothers died Wednesday and their parents were severely injured when their car was rear-ended into oncoming traffic and burst into flames in a residential section of Tustin.

The boys, Jerrod Damon Perry Howard, 4 months old, and David Alexander Loera Howard, 4 years, died in the back seat. A medical helicopter took Angela Howard, 24, to UCI Medical Center in Orange where she was in critical condition Wednesday night with burns over 93% of her body. Her husband, Perry Howard, 32, who was driving, was in critical condition at the same hospital with burns over 36% of his body.

Authorities said the couple are the parents of the 4-month-old, and that Perry Howard is the father of the older boy. The family lived in Buena Park.

The 1988 Mazda was waiting to make a left turn from Prospect Avenue onto Theodora Drive just after 4 p.m. when it was struck from behind by a Lincoln Mark VIII. The Mazda caught fire, and the impact of the collision pushed it into oncoming traffic, police said. A Saturn headed north broadsided the Mazda. The Lincoln then collided with a Datsun 300Z heading north.

Neighbors said they ran outside after hearing a boom and the screeching of tires. William McCoy said he was on the second floor of his nearby home when he looked out the window and saw black smoke spiraling into the sky. He grabbed a fire extinguisher and arrived to find the father crying out for help and flames shooting 10 feet into the air.

“When I got there, a man was screaming, ‘My children, my children! I can’t get them out!’ ” McCoy said.

McCoy, along with neighbors also armed with fire extinguishers and a garden hose, sprayed the burning car, but to no avail. The amateur firefighters jumped back when the car tires began exploding because of the intense heat.

“The smoke and flames were so thick inside the car you couldn’t see anything,” he said. “There was just nothing we could do.”

Winston Jewson said he heard one crash and another seconds later. By the time he ran the 100 yards to the scene, the Mazda was engulfed in flames.

“It was like an oil refinery on fire,” he said. “Nobody could get close to it.”

Kathy Keefe grabbed her garden hose in one hand and sprayed down the Mazda while holding her cordless phone in the other as she talked to the 911 operator.

“It was like a war zone,” Keefe said. “It smelled like burning rubber.”

She said the woman rolled out of the car, and she sprayed water on her.

The heat was so intense that the Mazda’s tires melted onto the street. The rear fenders also melted and fell off the car.

In a news release, Tustin police said someone pulled the couple from the car, although there were no details.

Neighbors said the family was on its way to visit the father’s parents, who lived in the area.

Tustin police Sgt. Pat Welch said a fourth car was involved in the crash, although its role was unclear. The drivers of two of the cars involved were taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana with minor injuries, but no further details were available.

The collision took place in a 40-mph zone. Jewson said this was the first crash there in the 30 years he has lived in the neighborhood.

However, Patrick Keefe, Kathy’s husband, said speeders are not uncommon and that neighbors have been trying to get a stoplight, stop sign or left-hand turn lane put in at the intersection.

Hours after the deaths, neighbor Gordon Rimmer began circulating a petition for a stoplight at the intersection.

“‘Many of us face this danger each day,” he said. “Is a family’s tragedy what it takes?”

*

Also contributing to this report was Times staff writer Brady MacDonald.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Deadly Car Crash

Two children burned to death Wednesday in a five-car crash in Tustin, police said. Two adults in the car also were injured, one with burns over 90% of her the body.

1. Southbound Mazda waiting to turn left is reportedly rear-ended, pushed into oncoming traffic

2. Northbound Saturn strikes passenger side of car Mazda

3. Thunderbird slams on brakes, does 180 degree turn

4. 300Z strikes Thunderbird

Mazda burns, 2 children die in back seat, 2 adults injured

Source: OC Fire Authority