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At an impromptu vigil in Valencia, more details emerged about the fiery single-car accident that killed actor Paul Walker and his friend Roger Rodas on Saturday.
Jim Torp said his son, Brandon, was friends with both Walker and Rodas and was an eyewitness to the aftermath of the deadly accident, according to video posted by the Santa Clarita Valley Signal. In the clip, Torp spoke to those gathered at the site and explained what had happened a day earlier on behalf of his son.
“I’m here for my son, my son’s having a hard time because he watched two of his friends burn to death. That was the hard thing, there was nothing he could do,” he said.
Brandon had taken a fire extinguisher to try to help but wasn’t able to, Jim Torp recalled to The Los Angeles Times.
“We know for a fact that Roger is driving the car, Paul Walker got into the car, they went for a little ride before they parked the car into the warehouse with all their other toys and, tragically, they both had died in this crash,” Torp said.
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Walker was a passenger in what authorities said was a red 2005 Porsche Carrera GT involved in the accident. The Santa Clarita Sheriff’s Department said that the crash occurred at 3:30 p.m. and that officers found the car “engulfed in flames.”
Walker had attended a charity event on Saturday for his organization Reach Out WorldWide, a fundraiser benefiting victims of the recent typhoon in the Philippines.
The fundraiser and toy drive took place at Rodas’ custom car shop, Always Evolving. Attendees rushed to the nearby crash to try to put out the flames with fire extinguishers.
Sheriff’s Deputy Peter Gomez said investigators are working to determine how fast the car was traveling and what caused it to go out of control, including whether the driver was distracted or something in the road prompted him to swerve.
After the Porsche crashed into a light pole and tree, it burst into flames. The downed light pole had a speed limit sign of 45 mph.
Rodas had reportedly been a financial adviser to Walker and served as the CEO of Always Evolving. “Thank you all for your condolences and prayers while we mourn the loss of our loved ones,” the company said in a statement on Sunday.
In the SCV Signal clip, Jim Torp was asked if he knew any other witnesses to the crash.
“I know there was a couple that came out of one of these parking lots, a man and his wife, they saw it happen; they have it on videotape that — they thought it was a film being made. They didn’t know it was Paul or Roger; they had no clue. They just saw a very nice car get into an accident and then blow up,” he said, noting that he didn’t know the couple personally.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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