Several days after the massive car accident for which the American actress Anne Heche had to be hospitalized with severe burns all over her body, the residents of Los Angeles have described some details of the incident last Friday, including the actions they took to rescue the Hollywood star and the resident of the house against which he crashed.

Heche, 53, suffered severe burns from the crash — which occurred in the Mar Vista neighborhood — and is currently intubated at a hospital. In addition, a representative of the star told People magazine that he is in “stable condition”.

Lynne Bernstein, who has lived at her home in nearby Venice with her wife Natalie since 1976, remembers how he and his neighbors, Dave and Gabriel, spoke to the producer moments after she crashed into the residence.

According to Bernstein, after the vehicle “almost completely” traversed the house and caught fire “almost immediately,” Dave entered the back of the car and spoke to Anne. “She replied that she was not very well. In fact, he talked to her briefly. He asked her to raise her hand or something… if it was okay and she said she couldn’t.”

Lynne also said that if they had been able to free her from the car before the Los Angeles Firefighters arrived, “maybe she wouldn’t be suffering like she is doing now.”

According to information released through a statement, firefighters took about 65 minutes to extinguish the flames and get the driver out of the car.

“We had a hard time seeing and breathing,” Bernstein said of the smoke filling the house, noting that Gabriel started putting out the fire with a hose as Dave tried to pull Anne out of the car.

“The smoke overtook us. We went to the back of the house to see if there was an alternative route, maybe we could get to it from the front of the vehicle. But the smoke, even in the backyard, was very intense,” Bernstein added.

According to the neighbor, the resident of the house “was shocked” to see the three men before realizing that the vehicle was inside her home. “I think he didn’t understand what was going on. He was very lucky. Also their dogs and their turtle.”

Lynne also considered that the actress is very fortunate to be alive. “We would look at each other and say, ‘How could you survive that? Because we had a hard time breathing even outside the house. So someone is surely watching over her, I guess.”

Witnesses told TMZ that the star of the “Psycho” remake first crashed into an apartment complex garage before reversing and speeding out, colliding shortly after with the nearby home.

Los Angeles authorities are still investigating the incident.