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MAR VISTA (CNS) - A vehicle possibly driven by actress Anne Heche crashed into a house in the Mar Vista area Friday, critically injuring the motorist and sparking a fire.
The crash was reported shortly before 11 a.m. in the 1700 block of South Walgrove Avenue, said Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department. A TMZ report identified the driver of the vehicle -- a blue Mini Cooper -- as Heche, though Los Angeles Police Department Officer Tony Im said he could not confirm the driver's identity.
In a statement, Humphrey said the vehicle "struck and came to rest well within a 738-square-foot two-story home, built in 1952, causing structural compromise and erupting in heavy fire prior to LAFD arrival."
"Fifty-nine Firefighters took 65 minutes to access, confine and fully extinguish the stubborn flames within the heavily damaged structure, and rescue one female adult found within the vehicle, who has been taken to an area hospital by LAFD Paramedics in critical condition," Humphrey said.
No other injuries were reported.
According to TMZ, Heche initially got into a minor accident at a Mar Vista-area apartment complex, crashing into a wall in a parking area, but she drove away from the scene. The crash into the home occurred a short time later.
The website reported that she suffered burn injuries but was expected to survive.
Heche, 53, rose to fame in the soap opera "Another World," but also appeared in films including "I Know What You Did Last Summer," "Donnie Brasco" and director Gus Van Sant's remake of "Psycho." She co-starred with Harrison Ford in the 1998 film "Six Days, Seven Nights."
Heche dated comedian/talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres for about three years in the late 1990s.