Driver dies after car crashes into Ankeny home, catches fire

This article has been updated.

The driver of a car died after it crashed into an Ankeny home early Saturday and caught fire.

Ankeny police said they received a report of the crash at 803 N.W. 32nd St. at the southwest corner of the intersection with Northwest Ash Drive at 1:40 a.m., according to a news release. When they arrived, the release said, they found the car on fire in the basement of the house.

It said the home's residents safely evacuated but the driver was trapped in the burning vehicle. Sgt. Corey Schneden of the Ankeny Police Department confirmed Saturday afternoon that the driver was the only person in the car at the time of the crash.

Schneden said the northbound driver left the roadway on Northwest Ash Drive, traveling along the sidewalk and into the backyard of the home before smashing into the structure. He said investigators were still trying to determine what caused the vehicle to veer off of the roadway and the rate of speech at which the car was moving when it hit the home.

He also said it appeared the driver did not know the owners of the home.

"As far as we know, there was no connection between them," he said.

The driver's name was withheld pending notification of next-of-kin.

More: Driver going more than 100 mph causes fatal crash in Story County

Ankeny Deputy Fire Chief Dan Schellhase said the car had been extracted from the home despite concerns about structural instability.

Ashley Rungee, who lives across Northwest 32nd St. from the house, said she awakened at 5 a.m. because she smelled smoke and looked out the window to see four or five firetrucks and ambulances.

Rungee said she has lived there for three years and knows the owners of the house, who introduced themselves when she moved in.

One of the owners declined to comment as he removed one of his cars from the garage.

Francesca Block is a breaking news reporter at the Des Moines Register. Reach her at FBlock@registermedia.com or on Twitter at @francescablock3.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Car crashes into Ankeny home, driver dies in burning wreck