SUN LAKES, AZ — Samantha Cuevas and her family were left heartbroken after their home caught fire in Sun Lakes.
"It's everything we had, and it's all gone, and you can't replace it," says Samantha Cuevas.
Cuevas tells ABC15 her mother called her saying 'something's wrong, I heard a big noise.'
That noise was a car slamming into the house in the early morning hours of Saturday, and cell phone video shows smoke and flames erupting just moments later.
"Thankfully, my mom and our dog got out alive," says Cuevas.
Gila River firefighters put out the fire, which not only destroyed the home but also three of their cars, family keepsakes, and her mother's expensive heart medication.
Gila River police believe impairment may have been a factor in the crash.
The driver went through several yards of a dirt path, took down a chain link fence, and then drove straight through a bedroom.
"My bed is against my window; I would've been there, there would have been… nothing left of me," says Cuevas.
Cuevas, who is three months pregnant, happened to be staying in Phoenix that night after going to a doctor's appointment.
"I really wanted to come home and I was going to come home," says Cuevas, but she decided against making the late-night drive — a decision that may have saved her life.
Later, as she looked through the debris, she saw a sign of hope.
"This is a picture of my brother. This is a picture of my brother we lost a year and a half ago," says Cuevas.
That is something she did not expect to see ever again.
"Seeing that picture, I'm like, 'he's my angel,'" says Cuevas.
A loved one watching over them as they begin the process of starting over.
A fundraiser has been started for the family.
