2 die in fiery car wreck; 5 in home escape injury

Two men apparently speeding early Monday down a rural west Sonoma County road were killed when their car smashed through boulders and a tree before crashing through a home's garage door, hitting a car inside and creating a fireball.

A family of five asleep inside the Canfield Road home south of Sebastopol escaped uninjured after waking up to the 3 a.m. crash. Their house suffered extensive damage, and the garage was destroyed.

"By the time I got there, the car was in flames," said Tom Warren, standing in front of his home Monday morning. "I told my wife to take the kids and go."

Carolyn Warren, their children, ages 10, 13 and 17, and their dogs headed to a friend's house for safety.

The identities of the crash victims remained unknown Tuesday morning as the coroner and investigators worked to determine who the men are and where they came from. Monday, empty beer cans found in the burned wreckage of their 1993 Acura Legend indicate alcohol may have been a factor in the crash, CHP Officer Barbara Upham said.

Warren, a commercial pilot and a volunteer firefighter, tried to put out the flames, but his extinguisher and garden hose were no match for the intense heat and quickly spreading fire.

It was just seconds between the crash and the fire, which was reported by a neighbor who heard the loud impact and called 911. Power to the Warren's home was lost after the crash.

Arriving firefighters found the blaze well under way.

"Coming down the hill, there was a big glow coming from the house," said Dan George, assistant fire chief for the Gold Ridge fire department. He said firefighters from Gold Ridge, Graton, Sebastopol and Cal Fire extinguished the fire in about 45 minutes.

George estimated damage to the garage and kitchen area at about $100,000.

The victims' car was taken to the nearby Gold Ridge fire station for removal of the bodies. The car was a charred, mangled mess and its occupants were burned beyond recognition.

CHP officers were hoping the car registration would help identify the occupants, Upham said.

The house sits at the corner of Canfield and Bloomfield roads. On Monday morning, the burned garage was roped off and CHP officers worked in the street and yard, measuring the path of the car to better understand what happened.

The Acura was headed south on Bloomfield Road toward a stop sign and a "V" in the road. The driver blew through a stop sign, went straight through the Warrens' large front yard and smashed into the closed garage door, the CHP said.

"There's a significant speed involved," Upham said, well beyond the road's 40-mph limit.

As the Acura plowed through the yard, it severed a tree and dislodged two large boulders, weighing as much as 1,000 pounds each, moving them several feet. One boulder ended up in the garage, 12 feet away.

"It was lucky (the crash) wasn't in the living quarters," Upham said.

Neighbor and friend Chris Judson lives around a corner and was awakened by the noise from the crash.

"I came running down here," she said as she stood across the street and watched the officers work.

"Oh, God, it was just . . . there were masses of fire engines. The blaze was something. It was stunning," Judson said. "The whole neighborhood was full of smoke."

Downed power lines kept Judson and others from crossing the street, and neighbors were worried about the Warrens.

"I was just devastated. I knew they were home and they have little kids and they have dogs," said Judson, who was relieved to hear that the family and pets were safe.

Carolyn Warren is a dedicated volunteer at Apple Blossom Elementary School, where one child still attends, said Judson, who works for the Twin Hills Union School District.

"It's a real supportive school community," Judson said.

She was organizing an effort at the school to gather items the family may need, she said.

Warren wasn't supposed to be home Sunday night, but he had a head cold and ear problems and remained home, not wanting to fly.

"Good thing I did," he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com.