Ann Heche suffered second-degree burns to 12 percent of her body when she crashed – but the troubled actress was not drugged when she drove her car home in Los Angeles.
According to an autopsy report obtained by The Post, Heche, 53, was trapped inside his burning Mini Cooper for about 30 minutes on Aug. 5 before being extricated by first responders.
According to a report released Tuesday by the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, Heche suffered “respiratory and thermal injuries” as well as a broken sternum — the breastbone in the center of the chest — in the crash. died as a result of trauma.
The report said the injury was “expected to be painful while he was breathing while he was in his car” and “significantly contributed” to his death.
The manner of death was ruled an accident, and an autopsy overturned earlier reports that Heche was under the influence of drugs at the time of the fire.
The report noted that Heche’s urine tested positive for cocaine, cannabinoids, benzodiazepines and fentanyl, but he was given fentanyl at the hospital after the crash.
Separate tests on his blood showed that he had previously consumed cocaine, but let the coroner conclude: “There was no evidence that he was impaired by illegal substances at the time of the accident.”
Heche also suffered burns on the right side of his face/neck, right shoulder, left upper chest and upper extremities.
According to emergency services radio records released to NBC Los Angeles under the California Records Act, the first fire engine responded to the crash at 11:01 a.m. – Heche lost control of his car and drove into a private home. five minutes after leaving.
An emergency dispatcher radioed that there was a “person trapped inside the vehicle,” but arriving paramedics were initially directed to treat the woman who was found injured in the home, not the driver of the Mini Cooper.
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