The woman whose home was destroyed in Anne Heche‘s recent car crash is “extremely fortunate.”
Lynne Mishele’s neighbor, Lynne Bernstein, informed PEOPLE how the tenant “was extremely fortunate” to survive the accident with no injuries, after Heche, 53, crashed her car into the Los Angeles residence this past Friday, causing it to catch fire.
Woman Is ‘Extremely Fortunate’ to Be Alive After Losing House In Anne Heche Car Crash
“So were the dogs and her turtle,” Bernstein adds of Mishele’s pets. The woman was in another section of her small home when the incident occurred.
Bernstein adds that Mishele “was in shock” before she even noticed the vehicle, as she saw him and two other neighbors inside her house trying to help everyone get out safely. “I don’t think she got what was going on. She said, ‘What happened? What happened?’ ” he recalls.
Heche’s vehicle drove “almost all the way through” the house and “almost immediately” caught fire, according to Bernstein. The Los Angeles Fire Department informed the outlet that the accident caused “structural compromise” and “heavy fire” to the one-story home.
A rep for Heche said in a statement to the outlet how that Heche is now in “critical condition” at the hospital.
“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.”
John and Jennifer Durand, who own the house that was destroyed, have since launched a GoFundMe to help Mishele cover the loss of “the place she loves” and most of her belongings.
“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,” the Durands wrote with the campaign. “Lynne and her family very narrowly escaped physical harm, and for that we are very, very grateful.”
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They also revealed how the Los Angeles Fire Department “immediately red-tagged” the house and Mishele lost an “entire lifetime of possessions, mementos, all equipment for her business including her laptop and iPad, all of her clothing and basic necessities, and all household items.”
“With firefighters’ help, she was able to pull a few damaged sentimental belongings from the wreckage. Everything else is gone,” they added.
The Durands also encouraged supporters to donate to the campaign and patronize her home organization business Creative Organization on Instagram and TikTok.
“A kind and generous person, Lynne is always first to offer help to others,” they wrote. “Today we are asking the community to come together and help Lynne start over.”
Heche was inside a blue Mini Cooper that crashed into Mishele’s home Friday morning on South Walgrove Ave. in the neighborhood of Mar Vista, causing the residence to catch fire.
LAFD responded to the call at around 10:56 a.m. and it took 59 firefighters in total close to 65 minutes to extinguish the flame and extract Heche from the driver’s seat, per a release.
Witnesses told TMZ that Heche first crashed into a garage of an apartment complex before she reversed and sped off, colliding with the nearby home shortly after.
Driving on Preston Way, Heche reportedly ran a stop sign at the Walgrove intersection and drove through some large privacy bushes before the car came to a stop inside the house, according to KTLA.
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