Questions grow in limo fire's aftermath

　
The circle of mourning for five nurses killed in a limousine fire on the San Mateo Bridge reached Alameda on Tuesday, as the final victim's name spread through a neighborhood that knew her as "a working mom who did everything."

Meanwhile, criticism of the limo driver's actions during the blaze mounted among the survivors and relatives of those who perished. Several said the driver, 46-year-old Orville Brown
of San Jose, was slow to react to the crisis and did little to help the women as they tried to escape the flames.Brown has said he did what he could and feels terrible about the fire.
While some pointed fingers, others shed tears Tuesday as the San Mateo County coroner's office finally released the names of all five who died in the blaze.

The woman whose name had not been made public was Felomina Geronga. She lived with her husband and two children on Walnut Street in Alameda - and with her ever-ready laugh silenced, the neighborhood is a lesser place, said longtime friend Elaine Rodriguez
."This is a tough thing," said Rodriguez, who lives next door to the Gerongas. "The whole family is just wonderful." Besides Geronga, 43, the dead were Jennifer Balon
, 39, of Dublin; Anna Alcantara, 46, of San Lorenzo; Michelle Estrera, 35, of Fresno; and Neriza Fojas, 31, who worked as a nurse in Fresno. The coroner listed her city of residence as Monterey.Four other women were injured but survived.
Close-knit groupThe women were taking their limo ride to Foster City on Saturday night to a bridal party for Fojas, who had recently married. They were a close-knit set of friends who were of Filipina heritage and had met one another through nursing jobs.
The loss of so many, all at once, has agonized their extended network of friends and relatives.
Geronga went by the nickname of Fyla and was a senior clinical lab scientist at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center
in Oakland, friends and hospital officials said.She had lived in Alameda for about eight years. Acquaintances said she was a cheery person, that she and her husband and children - a daughter in the seventh grade and a son in fourth grade - were the most upbeat folks on the block.
"You just constantly hear them laughing over there," Rodriguez said. "They always cheer me up - you hear the kids giggling and the parents talking and laughing all the time.
"My reaction when I heard about this: tears," she said.
Husband a nurseFriends said Geronga's husband had worked as a doctor in the Philippines and now works locally as a nurse. His wife was "a working mom who did everything," said one neighbor who asked not to be named, rising at 5:30 every morning to make breakfast and lunch for the family.
Hers is not the only family left without a wife and mother.
Jennifer Balon's husband, John Balon
, 38, worked as a physical therapist with his wife, a nurse, at the Fruitvale Health Center in Oakland. Now he has to carry on as a single father of a 10-year-old daughter and a 1-year-old son.He said he intends to show his son, Jayden, pictures of his mother frequently as he grows up so the boy can remember what she was like. As for himself, he said he will never need any prompts.
"I will always remember my wife, every day," Balon said. "She's the best thing to ever happen to me. She is one unique person. No one can replace her at all."
Survivors improveTwo of the survivors are still hospitalized at Valley Medical Center
in San Jose - 34-year-old Jasmin "Jazz" De Guia of San Lorenzo and Amalia Loyola, 48, of San Leandro. Their condition was upgraded Tuesday to fair.The other two survivors, Nelia Arrellano
, 36, of Oakland and Mary Grace Guardiano, 42, of Alameda, were released from a hospital earlier this week.The driver, Brown, was unhurt - and on Tuesday, De Guia's relatives accused him of not doing enough when the flames broke out to save his passengers.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Questions-grow-in-limo-fire-s-aftermath-4495821.php#ixzz2T6BsifDg