Police cite driver who slammed into townhomes, sparking fire in Mill Creek

MILL CREEK, Del. (WPVI) -- Police have cited the driver who slammed into a group of townhomes, sparking a fire on Monday.

Bharat Kothari, 67, has been cited with inattentive driving.

The crash and fire happened around 1:15 p.m. at the Green Valley Townhomes on Lower Valley Lane in Mill Creek, Delaware.

Police say Kothari lives at the initial house that was hit.

Kothari didn't want to go on camera, but told Action News he accidentally had the car in drive, not in reverse.

The car went forward toward the home, hitting a gas meter and sparking the fire.

Kothari was able to get out of the car without injury. One neighbor suffered smoke inhalation.

Martin Ruiz say he heard the tires screech as the vehicle slammed into the building. He quickly rushed out of his house to help.

"It was a little scary. You could feel the heat all the way to here," Ruiz said.

Ruiz says he helped firefighters and police save several pets including Karen Sarrafian's dog. She was frantic when she got the call at work that nearby townhomes were on fire.

"I came rushing home but, halfway here, I got word that someone saved my dog - so I was really thankful for them breaking the door and saving the dog," Sarrafian said.

The view from Chopper 6 HD showed the car near the burned-out shell of one home, with heavy fire damage to homes next door.

In all, the fire damaged four homes, destroying two of them.