Crime & Safety
Alameda, San Leandro Survivors Describe Deadly Limo Fire
Alameda resident Mary Guardiano escaped the limousine, then opened the limo's rear doors but was unable to reach others trapped inside, according to a statement she gave to the California Highway Patrol.
By Bay City New Service
Two of four women who survived a deadly limousine fire in May described in statements released Monday the final tense moments before five women perished after the vehicle came to a halt on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge.
Amalia Loyola, 48, of San Leandro, told investigators the bridal shower group had just opened a bottle of Champagne when she felt the vehicle hit a bump, then saw black smoke coming from beneath her feet.
Loyola, seated in the rear of the passenger compartment, told everyone about the smoke and moved up past the bride-to-be's presents to the front of the limo to join three other passengers.
She then immediately saw flames burst out in the rear next where the other five women sat.
"Nobody followed me after," Loyola said of the five women. "They were just sitting there. I don't know if they passed out or what. But the thing is nobody followed me. I was the only one that moved. They were just sitting there."
Mary Guardiano, 42, of Alameda, had saved herself after squeezing through the burning limo's narrow privacy partition when she ran over and opened both rear doors to free the others trapped inside.
But "flames shot out of the doorway and she was unable to go inside to grab anyone," reported a California Highway Patrol officer who took her statement.
"She said she stepped back and the doors shut automatically. She said the (limo) driver just stood with his cellphone."
The women's statements were released Monday with the announcement by authorities that the limousine fire was caused by a mechanical problemhttp://alameda.patch.com/groups/police-and-fire/p/pleas-for-help-heard-in-911-calls-during-limo-fire and that no criminal charges would be filed in connection with the tragedy.
The announcement was made by the CHP, the San Mateo County coroner's and district attorney's offices and other agencies at a news conference Monday afternoon at the CHP's Redwood City office.
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