SAN DIEGO, United States (AFP) — Several people were killed when a small plane crashed in a California neighborhood before dawn Thursday, destroying a home and setting more than a dozen cars on fire.

At least 10 houses were hit by debris and vehicles on both sides of a street went up in flames when the Cessna 550 slammed into the ground, spewing burning jet fuel in a part of San Diego that is home to military families. San Diego Fire Department Assistant Chief Dan Eddy told reporters one house had been badly damaged, but that no one on the ground had been seriously hurt.

“When (the plane) hit the street, as the jet fuel went down, it took out every single car that was on both sides of the street,” he said.

The plane had six people aboard, according to the United States (US) Federal Aviation Administration.

One of the dead was identified as Dave Shapiro, a music agent who founded San Diego-based Sound Talent Group (STG).

The company said two other members of staff who were aboard the plane had also died.

“We are devastated by the loss of our co-founder, colleagues and friends,” an STG spokesperson told US media.

The San Diego Police Department said Thursday afternoon that at least two people had died, but first responders at the scene said the plane had been totally destroyed and they expected the toll to rise.

– ‘Engulfed in flames’ –
Yasmine Sierra told AFP how she had helped her neighbors escape their burning house in the middle of the night after being awakened by what she initially thought was an earthquake.

“It looked like all the homes were on fire because I could see the smoke and the flames, it looked like the trees were on fire,” she said.

Moments later she heard screams from her neighbors who were trapped in their back garden.

“Me and my son grabbed the ladder, we jumped on our trampoline, and we tried to bounce as much as we possibly could, to throw that ladder over so that they can climb onto the ladder into our backyard,” said Sierra, 35.

A woman, two children and two small dogs climbed to safety over the ladder.

“She was very distraught when she came over. I brought her to the front of the house, and I told her that, you know, we needed to leave.”

Jeremy Serna, 31, who is in the Navy, said he and his wife had been awoken by a loud bang.

“We looked outside, and the sky was orange. And then I came running outside to see what it was, and everything was on fire over here,” he told AFP.

“I saw the corner house was just engulfed in flames. And then came back over here and told my wife, hey, we have to get out of here.”

– Thick fog –
Investigators were combing the scene Thursday, picking through the scattered debris of the plane, which appeared to have broken into hundreds of pieces.

Bits of fiberglass were scattered among the twisted and charred remains of cars, and the smell of fuel hung in the air.

The accident happened in thick fog when the plane, which had come via Kansas, was nearing the Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport.

It was not immediately clear what had happened, but the fire department’s Eddy said a nearby power line appeared to have been clipped.

The plane went down around 3:45 am, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, striking the Murphy Canyon neighborhood.

The residential area is largely military housing. San Diego is home to US Navy facilities, Marine Corps bases and Coast Guard stations.

The accident came at a time of heightened tension in the skies above America.

Air traffic control outages have struck the busy Newark airport on the East Coast at least twice in recent weeks, and in January there was a mid-air collision over Washington between a passenger plane and a military helicopter.

This month two people died when their small plane crashed into a residential neighborhood northwest of Los Angeles.