Survivor of limo fire disputes driver's account

Elizabeth Weise and Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY | USATODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Limo passenger to driver after fire: 'Help me' A passenger said she pleaded with the limo driver to help after the white stretch limo became engulfed in flames on a bridge Saturday over San Francisco Bay. Five women were killed and four survivors were treated at hospitals. (May 6)

The victims apparently tried to squeeze through a front partition

The driver pulled over after a passenger smelled smoke

Authorities do not suspect anything criminal occurred

One of the survivors of a limousine fire that killed five friends on a San Francisco Bay bridge is disputing the driver's version of what happened when the limo burst into flames.

Nelia Arellano, 36, of Oakland, told San Francisco's KGO-TV that she yelled at the driver to stop the car, but he "didn't want to listen."

When the driver, Orville Brown, did finally stop, Arellano said, he did nothing to help the women get out of the burning car after he exited. She also said the car's four rear doors were locked.

Brown has said that, at first, he misunderstood what one of the passengers in the back was saying when she knocked on the partition between the passenger area and the driver and complained about smelling smoke.

With the music up, he initially thought the woman was asking if she could smoke. Seconds later, he said, the women knocked again, this time screaming, "Smoke, smoke!" and "Pull over," Brown told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Brown says he helped four of the surviving women escape through the partition, though the limo was engulfed so quickly that he couldn't help everyone get out.

Tuesday, the San Mateo County Coroner officially identified the women who perished: the bride, Neriza Fojas, 31, of Monterey; Michelle Estrera, 35, of Fresno; Anna Alcantara, 46, of San Lorenzo; Felomina Geronga, 43, of Alameda, and Jennifer Balon, of Dublin, Calif..

Fojas and Estrera worked on a trauma medical/surgical floor at the Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno.

Of the four survivors, Arrellano and Mary Guardiano, 42, of Alameda, were taken to Stanford Medical Center. Arrellano has been released, but it wasn't known if Guardino was still hospitalized, the San Jose Mercury News reported Tuesday. Amalia Loyola, 48, of San Leandro; and Jasmine Desguia, 34, of San Jose, were listed in fair condition at Valley Medical Center.

The nine friends, all nurses, were headed across the San Francisco Bay to a hotel in Foster City on Saturday night for a bridal shower for Fojas, who was married recently.

Investigators had not determined Monday why the limo burst into flames, but they did note that the vehicle was carrying one more passenger than allowed under state regulations.

The five who died were found huddled near a partition between their compartment and the driver's. Unable to squeeze through a small opening, they "succumbed to the smoke and flames," Mike Maskarich of the California Highway Patrol said at a news conference Monday.

"My guess would be they were trying to get away from the fire and use that window opening as an escape route," San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault said earlier.



The four survivors escaped by squeezing through the 3-foot-by-1 1/2-foot opening. Two were in critical condition Monday.

The 1999 Lincoln Town Car was westbound on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, which connects San Mateo and Alameda counties, about 20 miles southeast of San Francisco.

Many stretch limousines have doors at the front and the back, but not along the elongated section of the vehicle.

The company that operated the limo was identified as Limo Stop, of San Jose, which offers service through limousines, vans and SUVS. According to records from the California Public Utilities Commission, which regulates limousine companies, Limo Stop is licensed and insured.

Maskarich said the stretch limo is considered a "charter party vehicle" and was listed with the PUC to carry eight or fewer passengers.

"There were nine," Maskarich said. Officials did not comment on whether the overcrowding played any role in the tragedy.

He said it appears that Brown, the driver, was properly licensed.

Calif. limo driver: 'It was horrific' The driver of a limousine that burst into flames on a San Francisco Bay bridge, killing five women inside, said it happened so fast, he couldn't help everyone get out. Authorities are investigating, and said the vehicle had too many passengers. (

The company issued a statement saying it "will do everything possible to investigate and assist authorities in determining the cause of this fire in order to bring forth answers and provide closure to (the) victims and their families."

Fojas' sister, Rosalyn Bersamin, told the Chronicle that Fojas and her friends, after a night on the town, were heading to the hotel to join Fojas' new husband. "She was a hard worker, a loving sister," a sobbing Bersamin told the newspaper.

The couple had planned to repeat their marriage vows in the Philippines next month for family and friends, the Mercury News reported.

Contributing: Alia E. Dastagir in Tysons, Va.; Associated Press