The woman whose Los Angeles home was destroyed when Anne Heche drove into it and caused a fiery crash “was extremely fortunate” to survive — but has “lost her entire lifetime of possessions,” according to neighbors.
Lynne Mishele was in a different section of her Mar Vista home when the troubled actress crashed her Mini Cooper into it Friday, sparking a fireball that took nearly 60 firefighters more than an hour to tackle.
The professional organizer “was in shock” before she even noticed the crashed car, which had careened “almost all the way through” the house, her neighbor, Lynne Bernstein, told People.
“I don’t think she got what was going on. She said, ‘What happened? What happened?’” Bernstein told the mag, saying that her neighbor was “extremely fortunate” to escape.
Her neighbor and her pets — two dogs, Bree and Rueban, as well as a tortoise, Marley — were “extremely fortunate” to survive unscathed, their neighbor said.
An online fundraiser set up by neighbors also insisted that “Lynne and her family very narrowly escaped physical harm.”
“The home, however, was completely burned,” said the fundraiser, which shared images of the burnt-out ruins of the house.
The house was “immediately red-tagged” — meaning declared unfit to occupy — forcing Mishele to “leave the place she loves,” said the fundraiser.
“Even more distressing is that Lynne lost her 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,” the neighbors said.
“With firefighters’ help, she was able to pull a few damaged sentimental belongings from the wreckage,” said the fundraiser, sharing images of a handful of photos — some burned — lined up outside.
“Everything else is gone,” it said.
The fundraiser called Mishele “a kind and generous person” who “is always first to offer help to others.”
“Today we are asking the community to come together and help Lynne start over,” said the fundraiser, which by early Monday had raised $53,340, more than half the $100,000 goal.
Fire officials had on Friday confirmed that the crashed vehicle “came to rest well within” the house, “causing structural compromise and erupting in heavy fire.”
In a release, the department noted how “59 Firefighters took 65 minutes to access, confine and fully extinguish the stubborn flames within the heavily damaged structure.”
Police, meanwhile, confirmed to CNN that they were investigating Heche for a “misdemeanor hit and run” just before the main crash.
She had been filmed earlier crashing into a nearby garage, with video shared by TMZ catching the sound of her tires screeching as she ignored appeals to get out the car and instead raced off.
Alarming videos then appeared to catch the roar of Heche’s blue Mini racing through quiet suburban streets before the crash. Police confirmed Sunday that they will be investigating if drink or drugs played a role, stressing that it was routine in such cases.
Heche, 53, is in stable condition. A source close to her told CNN that the actress is also “lucky to be alive.”
“She has severe burns and has a long recovery ahead,” the source said.
“Her team and her family are still trying to process what led up to the crash.”