FedEx and a bus crash in Cali

"The couple inside the Nissan Altima who watched the deadly Northern California bus crash said the FedEx truck was already up in flames when it crossed lanes and struck the tour bus head-on.

"It was in flames as it came through the median," Bonnie Duran said, "It was already in flames. It wasn’t coming from the front engine, it was more from behind the cab."


Source: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/l...k-fire-bus-crash-255003391.html#ixzz2yjOujHM3

Based on this eyewitness account, coming from the folks in the Nissan that was clipped by the Fedex truck...

... sounds like perhaps the fuel tank ruptured, possibly blown tire? Debris in the road puncture the front steer and then fly back into the tank?

Who knows, let's see what the investigation brings out.

""Look to the left and there it was, coming through right at me at an angle and I could tell I wasn’t going to outrun him so I just kind of turned to the right and he hit me just like that," Bonnie Duran said.

The truck hit the front door of Duran's Altima and then ripped off the back door and the back trunk, Joe Duran said.

"You just think, 'I’m dead, I’m dead.' And when it swiped us it felt like we floated, we kind of just floated right off to the ditch," Joe Duran said. "We looked at each other, literally at the same time we go 'we’re alive!""

 

Flames from behind the cab? I wonder if emissions equipment failure was at fault. That stuff is behind the cab of a swb day cab.

 

That doesn't look like a swipe....looks a lil worse then that

 

Well, here is the latest article: http://news.yahoo.com/ntsb-claim-truck-fire-still-uncorroborated-025200416.html

 

Does anyone know if he was hauling hazmat? I see the rear pup doesn't appear to be placarded but usually the hazardous is loaded in the front

 

No mention of HM in the incident.

 

What was that bus doing in Orland on I-5 if it was going to Humboldt? Hwy 36 is definitely not built for a bus nor is 299. Not putting any blame on the bus driver but he/she shoulda hit 101 via I-80.

 

I've seen the warning sign for 36; "Trucks and RV's not advised". No mention of buses!

 

If the route the bus took/was taking was suspect, it would have been talked about long time ago by those in the know. So, he /she had every right to be there in the bus just at the semi did.

 

News articles that mention the truck's contact with the Nissan Altima always mentioned it "swiped" the car then hit the buss head on. Hearing from someone inside the Altima gives perspective from someone that really saw what was going on with the truck before impact with the bus.