It took about 59 firefighters around 65 minutes to extinguish the flame and extract Heche from the car.
Anne Heche got into a grave car accident on August 5, 2022, after her blue Mini Cooper crashed into a home on the 1700 block of South Walgrove Avenue in the neighborhood of Mar Vista, causing the residence to catch fire, according to TMZ. She was taken to the hospital and was immediately intubated.
Unfortunately, her condition has not improved, a rep for the 53-year-old Emmy winner said, in a statement to PEOPLE.
"She has a significant pulmonary injury requiring mechanical ventilation and burns that require surgical intervention," according to the statement. "She is in a coma and has not regained consciousness since shortly after the accident."
EXCLUSIVE: Video shows the vehicle owned by actress Anne Heche speeding down a Mar Vista street moments before crashing into a home and sparking a fire. The story on @CBSLA 5pm. pic.twitter.com/1H93z5aVx7
— Rachel Kim (@CBSLARachel) August 5, 2022
The actress first crashed into a garage of an apartment complex. She then reportedly managed to reverse and drove off past a stop sign at the Walgrove intersection and drove through some large privacy bushes, according to KTLA, before crashing into the home rented by Lynne Mishele nearby resulting in a fire, a witness shared.
Neighbor Lynne Bernstein, who has lived in his house with his wife Natalie since 1976, recalls how he and his fellow neighbors, Dave and Gabriel, were able to talk to Heche in the moments after the crash occurred, according to PEOPLE.
According to Bernstein, the vehicle drove "almost all the way through" the house and "almost immediately" caught fire. However, Dave made his way into the back of the car and managed to talk to Heche. "She responded that she wasn't doing real well," Bernstein said.
"He actually talked to her briefly," he shared. "Yeah, he asked her to raise her hand or something ... if she was okay and she said she couldn't."
"Actress Anne Heche was in critical condition after a car accident on Friday in which she drove into a house, igniting a fire in both house and vehicle. this was her second accident that day"https://t.co/0NaD8qzlQ8
— JulesUSA (@JulesUSA6) August 6, 2022
The fire department responded to the accident around 10:56 am and it took about 59 firefighters around 65 minutes to extinguish the flame and extract the driver, according to a release.
"We really had a multifaceted incident here," LAFD Captain Erik Scott said. "We had a significant traffic collision, we had entrapment of a woman inside that, we had [a] car that erupted into fire, and then we had a home that had significant fire that is red tagged. It's at this point destroyed."
However, Bernstein said that if they had been able to free Heche from the car before the fire department arrived, "maybe she wouldn't be suffering the way she is now."
A few days ago, star actress Anne Heche @AnneHeche was involved in a horrible accident. She’s still in a Coma and she has burns over her body. Please keep our talented friend in Prayer. 🙏🏽 💫 pic.twitter.com/OWzwAWDbCk
— David Quinones (@DaveQuinonesNYC) August 8, 2022
The accident is still being investigated by Los Angeles authorities.
References:
https://www.tmz.com/2022/08/05/anne-heche-crashes-car-home-burned-fire/
https://people.com/tv/anne-heche-in-coma-hasnt-regained-consciousness-after-crash/
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/vehicle-crashes-into-home-sparks-fire-in-mar-vista/
https://people.com/tv/anne-heche-was-trapped-intense-smoke-car-crash-neighbors-attempted-rescue-her/
https://www.lafd.org/alert/knockdown-structure-fire-08052022-inc0707
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Rich Polk
