Limo fire: Driver describes last minutes on the bridge

A limousine burst into flames when a rear door was opened in an attempt to save the passengers inside, the limo’s driver told CNN in an interview Monday afternoon.

“Everything happened so fast,” LimoStop Inc. driver Orville Brown, 46, said. “When that back door opened, it just burst into flames.”

What was supposed to be a girl’s night out for a group of Bay Area nurses celebrating one of the women’s upcoming wedding in the Philippines turned into a night of horror and grief when the limo they were riding in inexplicably caught on fire, trapping all inside while on the Hayward-San Mateo Bridge.

The driver and four passengers managed to escape. Five others, including the bride, did not.

“It was just a nightmare,” Brown told CNN. “It was something I would never imagine would happen.”

Brown said the night started out well when he picked up the group in Alameda to take them to a bachelorette party.

“Everybody was joyous,” Brown said. “Beautiful ladies, beautiful occasion.”

The women were celebrating the wedding of Nerizo Fojas, who, though already married, was planning a second ceremony in the Philippines with her husband.

But as the limo drove west over the elevated portion of the Hayward-San Mateo Bridge, Brown said he heard a knock on the glass partition separating the rear of the limo from the front where he sits.

The woman said “smoke,” Brown said. He said he assumed she was asking if she could smoke a cigarette in the limo. He said they were about four minutes from their destination and the company’s policy prohibits smoking inside the car.

About 30 seconds later, he said the woman knocked again.

“I just saw the anguish, grief on her face,” Brown said. “I started smelling smoke and started seeing smoke.”

Brown said he immediately stopped the car. By then, the glass partition was down and the women were trying to crawl through it to safety. A San Mateo County coroner’s official said the five victims were found near the partition, indicating they tried to escape that way before being overcome by smoke and flames.

Brown estimated that two women made it out of the car that way. He said one of them opened the rear door to let her friends out and that’s when the flames engulfed the rear.

“It was horrific,” he said.

Within a minute, the rear half of the limousine was completely on fire. Authorities said other drivers, including an off-duty California Highway Patrol sergeant – tried to help get the passengers out but to no avail. Brown said his memory was foggy on how all the survivors escaped.

The limo company’s vehicles are regularly maintained, Brown said. He said he’s been with the company for two months.

Two of the surviving passengers -- Jasmin De Guia, 34, of San Jose and Amalia Loyola, 48, of San Leandro -- were taken to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. They were being treated for smoke inhalation and burns and were listed in critical condition.

Two other passengers -- Nelia Arellano, 36, of Oakland, and Mary Grace Guardiano, 42, of Alameda -- were taken to Stanford Medical Center. They were treated for moderate burns and smoke inhalation, authorities said. Their conditions are unknown.

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