One of the victims in a deadly highway crash recalls the moment her car collided with an SUV and van just south of Bishop on US 395.
"I saw my windshield completely covered in flames, I thought my windshield was going to shatter and I was going to die," said Tanager, a 19-year old woman whose Subaru was struck by a Ford Expedition driven by 17-year old Cathedral Catholic High School student Natalie Nield.
Nield and fellow Cathedral Catholic High School graduate Amanda Post, 18, were killed in the accident. Amanda's boyfriend, Derek Thomas, 19; Drew Delis, 22; and local trainer John Adams, 39 were injured and have been hospitalized with major injuries.
According to an accident report released Monday, Nield was driving a Ford Expedition registered to her mother as the teens traveled back to San Diego from a high-altitude training camp in Mammoth on Aug. 9.
The SUV veered into oncoming traffic colliding with a van from California Baptist University traveling up to the same camp, officers said. A cheerleading coach driving that van, 35-year old Wendy Rice, was also killed in the collision.
"That Ford Expedition landed on top of the 14 passenger van and spun that van around and collided into my car," Tanager said.
Local
The key witness in the accident, who goes by only one name, said in an exclusive interview with NBCSanDiego that the Expedition had caught on fire right before striking the van.
"It was already on fire,” said Tanager. “There were flames coming out of the windows."
Tanager was able to escape her burning car, but suffered third degree burns to her back.
What's not mentioned in the accident report is what may have caused Nield's SUV to swerve into oncoming traffic.
CHP investigators are still trying to determine exactly why the Expedition swerved into oncoming traffic. Officers say they won't release a full report until all of the survivors are interviewed. Neither drugs nor alcohol are believed to have played a role in the accident.
Days after the crash, friends from around the county gathered for an informal service and a memorial run.
Delis is a senior at USD and plays on their Men's Soccer team. Before he graduated from CCHS, Thomas was captain of the high school football team and was chosen to play football for Occidental College in the fall, the source said.
Nield's family celebrated the teenager's birthday the way she had planned, with a bonfire on the beach Aug. 12.
Post was an honor roll student and standout athlete at Cathedral. "She had the kindest, softest, most gentle nature, and yet she was tough as nails," Amanda's father, Greg Post said in an interview a few days after the crash. "We'll never be able to fill this void, ever."
She had placed on the 2010 Spring All-CIF Track and Field team just before the crash.
