Lincoln Town Car

Investigators said Monday they will soon begin the meticulous process of analyzing the remains of a 1999 Lincoln Town Car limousine that burst into flames on the Hayward-San Mateo Bridge, fatally trapping five passengers. While that model vehicle was part of a large recall involving several Ford models, the problems and fixes did not involve mechanics in the rear of the vehicle - where Saturday's lethal fire is believed to have started. 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.

OAKLAND - The San Mateo county coroner's office on Tuesday identified the five women killed on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge when their limousine became engulfed in flames while traveling to a wedding celebration. They are: Neriza Fojas, 31, and Michelle Estrera, 35, of Fresno; Jennifer Balon, 39, of Dublin; Anna Alcantara, 46, of San Lorenzo; and Felomina Geronga, 43, of Alameda. Four other passengers survived, as did the driver. Other than Geronga, the close-knit Filipina friends were all nurses who had met while working at Oakland's Fruitvale Healthcare Center, bonding like “sisters,” one survivor told a local television station.

Ford Motor Co. may have to recall 68,897 Lincoln Town Cars because of reports that the side air bags can inflate unexpectedly when the 2001 model luxury sedan hits a pothole or a piece of debris. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began investigating after 76 complaints were received by the agency and the automaker through September. Nine people were injured in seven accidents reported. The investigation is the first step toward a possible recall.

The limousine that became engulfed in flames on the Hayward-San Mateo Bridge was authorized to transport eight passengers but was carrying nine, the California Highway Patrol said Monday. The 1999 Lincoln Town Car is regulated by the state Public Utilities Commission, CHP Capt. Mike Maskarich said at a news conference in the highway patrol's Redwood City area office. He said the regulatory mandates would be explored as part of a larger investigation into the fire that engulfed the car. PHOTOS: Fatal limo fire Maskarich and Foster City fire officials, who are assisting in the investigation, declined to elaborate on a possible cause or origin of the blaze, saying they have yet to review the vehicle's maintenance records, conduct more thorough interviews with the driver and survivors, or explore any potential recalls or other mechanical issues known to be associated with the model.

An Oakland nursing home was reeling Monday as staff and residents assessed the magnitude of their loss: Eight of the nurses involved in a deadly limousine fire had ties to the home. Four of them were killed. Officials at the Fruitvale Healthcare Center said two of the dead and two of the injured were still working  there, and two others who were killed and two others who were injured were former employees. "We are still in the process of learning the facts and circumstances surrounding this horrific event," the center's spokeswoman, Annaliese Impink, wrote in a statement.

In an interview with The Times, the San Mateo County coroner revealed gruesome details of a limousine fire that killed five women, including a bride-to-be, and injured four others. Orville Brown, a driver with LimoStop Inc., picked up the nine women in Oakland on Saturday evening, Corner Robert Foucrault said. He was hired to drop them off about 40 miles away at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Foster City for a bachelorette party. The women, including the bride-to-be, were all riding in the passenger section of the limo when they noticed smoke coming from the back of the 1999 Lincoln Town Car, Foucrault said.

The limousine that became engulfed in flames on the Hayward-San Mateo Bridge was authorized to transport eight passengers but was carrying nine, the California Highway Patrol said Monday. The 1999 Lincoln Town Car is regulated by the state Public Utilities Commission, CHP Capt. Mike Maskarich said at a news conference in the highway patrol's Redwood City area office. He said the regulatory mandates would be explored as part of a larger investigation into the fire that engulfed the car. PHOTOS: Fatal limo fire Maskarich and Foster City fire officials, who are assisting in the investigation, declined to elaborate on a possible cause or origin of the blaze, saying they have yet to review the vehicle's maintenance records, conduct more thorough interviews with the driver and survivors, or explore any potential recalls or other mechanical issues known to be associated with the model.

LIKE one of my fellow readers ["Letters," June 5], I too was ticketed while parked in an LAX parking structure for not having my front license plate mounted on my car. Two weeks later, I was dropping a friend off at the airport when I was pulled over and cited for the tint on the windows of my car. When I commented on the much darker tint of the windows of the Lincoln Town Car in front of me, the officer's reply was, "Yeah, I have to pace myself."...

Ford Recalls '91 Town Cars and New Taurus Sedans: Ford Motor Co. will send recall letters to the owners of 8,800 Ford Taurus SHO sedans and 113,700 flagship Lincoln Town Cars. The Taurus recall covers 1992-93 models with manual transmissions and involves replacement of the starter. At the same time, Ford will replace the coolant overflow reservoir on 8,250 of the cars because the reservoir might crack.

You ran an article about the American Orient Express trip through the Rocky Mountains ("On Different Tracks," Sept. 10). I have looked at both the American and the original, Europe's Venice Simplon-Orient Express, when planning summer trips. I thought it might be nice to roll through the Rockies. However, I recently went on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, and I can tell you there is no comparison. There never will be a train greater than the VSOE. Comparing the AOE to the VSOE is like comparing a Rolls-Royce to a Lincoln Town Car. MAX JONES Santa Cruz

Investigators said Monday they will soon begin the meticulous process of analyzing the remains of a 1999 Lincoln Town Car limousine that burst into flames on the Hayward-San Mateo Bridge, fatally trapping five passengers. While that model vehicle was part of a large recall involving several Ford models, the problems and fixes did not involve mechanics in the rear of the vehicle - where Saturday's lethal fire is believed to have started. 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.

An Oakland nursing home was reeling Monday as staff and residents assessed the magnitude of their loss: Eight of the nurses involved in a deadly limousine fire had ties to the home. Four of them were killed. Officials at the Fruitvale Healthcare Center said two of the dead and two of the injured were still working  there, and two others who were killed and two others who were injured were former employees. "We are still in the process of learning the facts and circumstances surrounding this horrific event," the center's spokeswoman, Annaliese Impink, wrote in a statement.

In an interview with The Times, the San Mateo County coroner revealed gruesome details of a limousine fire that killed five women, including a bride-to-be, and injured four others. Orville Brown, a driver with LimoStop Inc., picked up the nine women in Oakland on Saturday evening, Corner Robert Foucrault said. He was hired to drop them off about 40 miles away at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Foster City for a bachelorette party. The women, including the bride-to-be, were all riding in the passenger section of the limo when they noticed smoke coming from the back of the 1999 Lincoln Town Car, Foucrault said.

Gas prices have soared about 15% in the last six months, hitting $3.94 a gallon on average nationwide, and $4.29 in California. The mood of motorists? Meh. Partisan finger-pointing aside, polls suggest that most people aren't as worked up over gas prices as they were four years ago, when a gallon of regular hit a national average of $4.11 a gallon. Nor has there been as much clamor for drastic measures, such as tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in Texas and Louisiana.

Matthew McConaughey has just cracked open his second Corona when the man wearing Mardi Gras beads and a Village People policeman's cap approaches his car. "Do you know Duane?" the inebriated-looking man asks with suspicion, poking his head inside the window and gesturing to the house the car happens to be parked in front of. "Because I'm just giving you a word to the wise. He's hypersensitive about security and things like that. He'll have his people come and shake you down. " It's 9:30 on a Tuesday night, and McConaughey is sitting in the back of a black SUV with crime novelist Michael Connelly.

An elderly man was found dead late Tuesday in a parked car that had been ticketed earlier in the day on a street in an unincorporated industrial area near Pico Rivera. A passerby noticed the man in the driver's seat of the black Lincoln Town Car near Peck and Rooks roads about 7:50 p.m. and notified employees at a nearby truck shop. A maintenance worker from the shop who went to investigate said a parking ticket on the car was marked as being written about 11 a.m., said Chantelle Amaya, assistant manager at L.A. Freightliner.

OAKLAND - The San Mateo county coroner's office on Tuesday identified the five women killed on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge when their limousine became engulfed in flames while traveling to a wedding celebration. They are: Neriza Fojas, 31, and Michelle Estrera, 35, of Fresno; Jennifer Balon, 39, of Dublin; Anna Alcantara, 46, of San Lorenzo; and Felomina Geronga, 43, of Alameda. Four other passengers survived, as did the driver. Other than Geronga, the close-knit Filipina friends were all nurses who had met while working at Oakland's Fruitvale Healthcare Center, bonding like “sisters,” one survivor told a local television station.

So now Bank of America is lending more millions to save the Kings: first to the crook McNall, then to Sudikoff and Cohen (who never came up with the millions they promised to inject into the team), and now to a new entity. On the same day, your paper runs an article with the headline: "B of A Declines to Aid State Workers in Budget Impasse." So these employees of our fair state will be losing their payroll and possibly their credit because they're not famous, and this bank still insures Bruce McNall getting his $40,000 per month, so that he can still drive around in his Lincoln Town Car and eat at the finest restaurants?

LIKE one of my fellow readers ["Letters," June 5], I too was ticketed while parked in an LAX parking structure for not having my front license plate mounted on my car. Two weeks later, I was dropping a friend off at the airport when I was pulled over and cited for the tint on the windows of my car. When I commented on the much darker tint of the windows of the Lincoln Town Car in front of me, the officer's reply was, "Yeah, I have to pace myself."...

The National Rifle Assn. is right when it says guns don't kill people. Bullets kill people, and really big bullets traveling at four times the speed of sound kill people with excellent and resounding authority. Welcome to the fascinating world of rifle-grade ballistics. Please keep your brains inside your skull during the ride.