The woman whose house actress Anne Heche crashed into is ‘lucky to be alive’ her neighbour has said.
The 53-year-old is reportedly recovering in the ICU with 'serious burns' after she crashed her car into a house before it burst into flames on Friday (5 August).
Authorities believe her car potentially hit a kerb and was two feet off the ground when it smashed through the front of a two-storey home in Mar Vista.
A representative of the family told PEOPLE Magazine that Heche was in a 'stable condition' following the crash, adding that: "Her family and friends ask for your thoughts and prayers and to respect her privacy during this difficult time."
Now a neighbour of the person whose house Heche hit, Lynne Mishele, has spoken out over the crash and claimed Mishele was ‘was extremely fortunate’ to survive the accident with no injuries, along with her dogs and turtle, as she was fortunately in another section of her property.
Lynne Bernstein added that the tenant ‘was in shock’, telling PEOPLE: “I don’t think she got what was going on. She said, ‘What happened? What happened?’”
The neighbour also claimed Heche’s car went ‘almost all the way through’ the house and ‘almost immediately’ caught fire.
In light of the accident, other neighbours of Mishele’s, John and Jennifer Durand, have launched a GoFundMe to help cover the cost of replacing her belongings that have been destroyed and so far have raised more than $50,000.
A statement on the page read: “Lynne lives with her beautiful pups Bree and Rueban, and tortoise Marley in the Mar Vista home that was destroyed this week by a car driving into the home at a high rate of speed, catching the house on fire.
“Lynne and her family very narrowly escaped physical harm, and for that we are very, very grateful.”
LAFD Alert-Knockdown - #MarVista Structure Fire 1766 S Walgrove Av MAP: https://t.co/dybqLgtWHm FS63; *Address Corrected*. Vehicle Struck/Entered Home Causing Fire. 59 Firefighters. 65 Minutes. One Critically Injured Person Rescued. DETAILS: https://t.co/la6XkrSs0g
— LAFD (@LAFD) August 5, 2022
The crash caused a large fire within the home, and reportedly took 65 minutes and 59 firefighters 'to access, confine and fully extinguish the stubborn flames within the heavily damaged structure'.
While the homeowner was unharmed, it is reported that the property is now 'uninhabitable' with one eyewitness telling NBCLA: "The house was tons of smoke. I think they used the crane to move the car to extract the driver. It was crazy."
Shocking photos have since emerged from the scene including wreckage of Anne's Mini Clubman, which has been burnt out and is now a mangled wreck.
Heche is known for her roles in films including Psycho, Six Days, Seven Nights, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Donnie Brasco and Cedar Rapids as well as TV roles in medical drama Nip/Tuck.
She is also known for her role on the soap opera Another World, for which she won a Daytime Emmy in 1991.
The star notably dated Ellen DeGeneres between 1997 and 2000, before the comedian, 64, met now wife Portia de Rossi, 49.
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