A young man was killed in a suspected street racing crash that apparently sparked a fire, burning a nearby home in Hancock Park, officials said Friday.
At least two vehicles were possibly racing each other at a “very high rate of speed” when one of the cars lost control, hit a curb, went airborne and landed in a tree by a home’s garage around 11:30 p.m. Thursday, according to Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Brian Wendling.
A family was inside the South Rimpau Boulevard home when the vehicle came barreling toward it.
“A little girl was in a bedroom and had stepped out of that room, and otherwise, this could have been a real tragedy,” the captain said.
The driver who died was described as being a young man, believed to be around 20 years old. Officials did not identify him as they worked to first notify his family.
Firefighters responded to the scene and found the vehicle, one-story home and some vegetation ablaze.
They quickly attacked the fire, keeping the flames contained to the home’s garage. It took around 30 minutes to extinguish the fire, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
“One of the challenges we have is making sure that that garage is not going to fall on our firefighters while they were taking the fire out,” an LAFD chief said at the scene.
Video from the scene showed some charred vegetation around a damaged Mercedes. A hole on the side of the home was also visible.
Officials said the home was yellow-tagged, but the homeowners were allowed to go back inside.
No one else was hurt during the fiery crash and no further details were immediately available.