Ninety Seconds Of Hell

As a former limousine chauffeur for 10 years, news coverage of the burning limousine on the San Mateo Bridge over San Francisco Bay last Saturday got my attention. Nine women in a bridal party, including the bride-to-be and her mother, were in the car when the rear section caught fire. The cause of the fire has not been determined.

The chauffeur and four women escaped. Five others did not. Authorities found their bodies clustered around a three foot wide opening in the partition between the passenger and driver compartments.

That three foot space has a panel that can be raised or lowered by the chauffeur or the passengers. It’s called a privacy panel. Initial reports state that four survivors escaped through the open privacy panel and out the front doors along with the chauffeur.

The limo had two doors at the back of the passenger section. Some limos also have a hinged plexiglass window in the roof, called a moon roof. In recent years fewer and fewer limousine companies have had the moon roof installed.  Too risky.  Inebriated male passengers have been known to climb through an open moon roof for a fresh air ride on top of the car. Sometimes inebriated female passengers use an open moon roof to flash their assets. This can dangerously distract other motorists into causing insurance headaches.

Whether or not this limo had a moon roof was not cited in the reports I read. It might not have made any difference if it had. The moon roof is usually placed over the rear of the passenger compartment. That’s where the fire was.

Stretch limos have extended windows on each side of the passenger compartment. Those windows are made of shatterproof glass and composite plastics. They can only be opened by a strong person with a sledge hammer.

Then we have the trunk, which is directly over a 35 to 55 gallon gas tank.  Some limo companies stash an empty one gallon gasoline can in the trunk.  Empty gasoline cans have fumes if they’ve ever contained gasoline. Fumes are explosive. Some limos still have road flares in the trunk instead of, or in addition to, collapsible plastic triangles with reflectors. Flares are made with chemicals that are nearly impossible to extinguish.

Another thing. The faux wood fixtures in limousine interiors, such as the lids for the ice compartments, are made of plastics that give off toxic fumes when ignited. So does upholstery and carpeting. 

Given all the combustibles in the interior of a stretch limousine, I was not surprised when the chauffeur told authorities that the limo went up in flames in 90 seconds.

Those 90 seconds may have seemed like eternity for everyone involved.

For five of the women in the limo that night, it was.

Comments:

I have never seen the point of limousines. Never rode in one, never had the urge to. (No offense, just me being me.) I always enjoy your limousine stories though, and your analysis on this sad accident was very illuminating. It seems as if limos need some kind of escape route better than what they have now! -- Eve

A horrible accident. -- Lynda

Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. Next time I'll ride a scooter.  -- Pre

Scooters are hard to spot in traffic.  You might get smacked by a limo.

Thought of you immediately when this story broke!  It was helpful reading what you wrote; sobering and informative. So glad you are okay, and very sad about those women. -- Miriam

What a nightmare for all, and on the darned bridge too. -- Diane

I'll never look at a limousine the same again. -- Linda B.

It gets sadder and sadder. Seems like a lack of communication between the woman and the driver. So sad.  -- Uma

They did communicate. According to news accounts, one of the women alerted the driver about smoke in the back.  The driver came to a stop and bailed out along with four of the women.  The other five, well...

Helluva a post -- very informative and as usual, really well written. -- Tim

All I know is that people are dead who should not be, and families are grieving and will for the rest of their lives. Maybe some changes in the next limo that rolls off the production line will happen because of that incident. Maybe some people who didn't think something awful could happen to anybody in that car that night -- and anyone who sees people they love roll away for a night of fun -- will think a little harder about how much they love someone and tell him so. People will bury their loved ones this week, and the rest of us will go on living. It's what we do. Terribly sad, and resiliently good that we have to and can. What a sad, awful story, Mike. -- Zoey

I won't ride in a limo now. Very sad. -- Meemir

This was a very freakish event that has safety investigators all over it. My view is that you’re safer in a stretch limo in Saturday night traffic than you are in a car.

Mike...I thought about you when I heard the news, particularly since the driver's last name was Brown. SO GLAD it wasn't you!  I was up in SF last week for a couple of days, viewing the Dutch Masters' exhibit at the DeYoung.  Creepy, awful accident! -- Cyn

My last name is spelled Browne, and I gave up being a chauffeur over a year ago.

I, too, was afraid that you were driving that limo; didn't know you have given up the driving gig.  Still, I know you must feel badly, as a fellow driver. -- Shannon.

Aw hell. Literally. -- Tracy

Keith and I were so sad to hear that story. Those poor women and their families. -- Sandy

I also was saddened by news of the limo disaster on the San Mateo Bridge. 90 seconds for that many people to escape, unbelievable. Words can not describe how awful it must have been, but you told the story that may make companies reexamine evacuation procedures. -- Karen

Unbelievable tragedy. I too thought of you. Even though you are not doing that anymore, I still thought of you. The limo driver must be feeling really awful right now. Thank you for all of the information that most people would never know or even think about. Sad. -- Carol

It is very sad that these five women died at a young age. Perhaps investigators will discover what caused the fire, and perhaps this information will make limousines safer in the future. -- Ken