Driver Charged After Car Hits House

Fredericksburg police have arrested and charged a 21-year-old Normandy Avenue woman after her car hit a house Wednesday night. 

At 9:42 pm Wednesday, a homeowner in the 600 block of Woodford Street called to report he heard a loud explosion and realized a car had crashed into his house, said Fredericksburg Police public information officer Natalia Bledsoe.

"He further reported that the upstairs level of the house was filled with smoke," said Bledsoe. Fredericksburg deputy fire chief Mike Jones said that some callers reported seeing smoke coming from the structure, so the initial assignment was upgraded to a building fire call.

Authorities said the car went through the front of the home near a basement window. 

Bledsoe said when police arrived, the driver of the car was sitting on the front steps of the house and denied any injury.

"Ashleigh Molina, 21, was charged with DUI and reckless driving and [was] incarcerated," said Bledsoe.

"In addition to her impairment, speed was also a factor in this crash," said Bledsoe in an email. "The car involved was a 2008 Chevrolet Aveo."

Bledsoe said the fire department reported that the crash caused damage to a water line at the house but no fire. The smoke reported by the homeowner was apparently coming from the engine of the vehicle. 

Fire crews worked to stabalize the structure, Jones said, which included securing the electricity, water and gas to the building.  

The crash compromised the structural integrity of the first floor kitchen area with exposed floor joists and beams, Jones said. The City Building Department was contacted and the building inspector came to the scene and did a structural survey.

Once this assessment was done a plan was developed to remove the vehicle from the structure and provide temporary shoring of the affected areas to allow the home to be stabilized.

"A towing service was called and in a short time removed the vehicle," said Jones in a release. "Fire Department personnel then went about the task of using 6x6 posts to create a dead shore to hold the load of the exposed beams. This process took about 30 minutes to complete." 

Units were on the scene for approximately 90 minutes. Jones said initial damage estimates are about $20,000 in structure and $5,000 in contents.

"This structure is actually next door to the two homes that burned a little more than a month ago," said Fredericksburg deputy fire chief Mike Jones. 

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