3 Victims of Fiery Crash, 1 Survivor Identified
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A family of four taking their first motor home trip from British Columbia to Disneyland were identified Tuesday as the victims of a fiery crash in Burbank that left a man, his wife and stepdaughter dead and his stepson badly burned.
Doug Bertsch, a milkman who lived in Killiney Beach, had recently inherited the 35-foot camper. Bertsch, 45, his wife, Joanne, who was in her late 30s, and her children from an earlier marriage, Gavin Sweezie, 14, and Allison Sweezie, 10, set off Thursday for Southern California, said neighbor Kim Redding.
“They were so looking forward to this trip,” Redding said tearfully. “The family had traveled often. But this was the first time in the motor home and the kids were so excited because they were going to Disneyland.”
The trip ended in catastrophe Monday morning on the southbound Golden State Freeway when the motor home and a semi-truck hauling 50,000 pounds of tomatoes collided and crashed into a concrete abutment.
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