At that point there were only minor injuries to the Lopez family, when a motorhome propane tank exploded. One of the three children broke a window to escape from the motor home, and Elizabeth Lopez, 37, also exited the vehicle. But Lopez slipped in escaping gasoline and fell to the ground at the same time that the recreational equipment on the trailer ignited. The flames jumped to the gasoline and ignited Lopez’s clothing.That’s when Oseguera arrived on the scene, using his truck’s fire extinguisher to extinguish the blaze, which had fully engulfed Lopez’s clothing. Oseguera “essentially saved Mrs. Lopez’s life,” said Officer Reid.Mrs. Lopez was airlifted to Ventura County Medical Center with burns over 50 percent of her body; due to Oseguera’s quick actions her burns were mostly second degree. The fire also ignited nine palm trees lining the highway.“We’re going to make sure that this individual who stopped to help this family, who saved this woman’s life, gets recognition,” said Officer Reid. “Just when you think people aren’t good Samaritans anymore, someone like this goes above and beyond and saves someone’s life. This was definitely going above and beyond.”
Oxnard truck driver - hero of Hwy. 126 motorhome fire - identified
September 23, 2005
Santa Paula News
The name of a hero who saved a woman’s life in a freak fire that started with a motor home crash on Highway 126 has been released, according to a California Highway Patrol spokesman.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesThe name of a hero who saved a woman’s life in a freak fire that started with a motor home crash on Highway 126 has been released, according to a California Highway Patrol spokesman. CHP Officer Steve Reid said that Fabian Oseguera of Oxnard was the passing truck driver who pulled over and doused a woman who had caught fire after the motor home crashed on Highway 126 last month.The accident occurred when the motor home was westbound on Highway 126 near Timber Canyon Road, as driver Raul Velezuela Lopez Jr., 39, of Granada Hills, was on the way to a family vacation in Pismo Beach. The motor home was traveling at about 65 mph and towing a trailer with riding sports equipment such as a dune buggy and ATVs.While Lopez was driving, an insect entered the vehicle and he swatted it away, swerving across the highway into oncoming traffic. Lopez overcorrected and traveled back into the westbound lanes, where the motor home and trailer ran off the road and landed in a ditch.