Limo catches fire, five women die

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Five-killed-in-limousine-fire-4489847.php

Rented limo, carrying a bachelorette party, caught fire last night while going over a bridge on SF Bay. The driver and four passengers made it out, but five women didn't. Not much information on cause of fire yet, all they know is that it started in the back of the limo. (Gas tank? Something inside the car?)

Picture of car in flames here:

http://www.mercurynews.com/san-mateo-county-times/ci_23177040/limo-company-says-its-cooperating-police-fire-that

 

Outlaw limos [/somemoron]

 

That's pretty high on the list of horrible ways to die.

 

Will be interesting to follow the investigation on this. Almost sounds like the fire started inside the passenger compartment.

 

Pull this thread up and of course, get ad for limo rental.

Really feel awful for the victims.

Papers say fire started in the trunk.

 

The limo's maintenance/repair garage will have some 'splaining to do, I bet. Also, some transport companies do no maintenance and use the vehicle until it conks out, then get a new one.

 

Very sad story. And to follow up on Dooley's comment, the limo was a 1999. Sure, it was probably nice for a 1999. But that's still 14 years old. Plenty of things go wrong at that point. But a fast-moving fire like that that didn't start in the engine tells me this is not a maintenance thing.

 

Another bizarre death story out of France: She fell 1,000 feet and died but before they got to her ...

http://www.examiner.com/article/woman-eaten-by-vultures-vultures-consume-a-woman-s-body-after-a-1-000-foot-fall

 

Could have been a leaking fuel line

 

From the LA Times, which did great reporting on the Toyota acceleration issue:

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-limo-fire-recall-20130506,0,2820338.story

The 1999 Lincoln Town Car was part of a broad investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration between 2001 and 2003 into fuel tank fires after rear-end collisions, but authorities said Saturday’s incident did not involve a collision.

The NHTSA website shows one complaint – logged in 2004 – of a customer reporting an electrical circuit board issue with a 1999 Lincoln Town Car limousine. The complaint said the lighting and air conditioning in the rear of the vehicle failed.

“The connector heated up which could have caused a potential fire,” the complaint stated.

There are 89,620 1999 Lincoln Town Cars, according to the NHTSA.

 

Interview with the driver, which I'm surprised he gave, since it seems like he effed up badly. I've driven on that bridge quite a few times, and there's reallly no place to pull over.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/peninsula&id=9092640

 

How did he "eff up badly" by driving a car that malfunctioned?