HALLANDALE BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A Hallandale Beach family has been forced out of their home after an out-of-control car crashed into it, sending the driver to the hospital.
The vehicle crashed into the home along Southwest 11th Street and Second Avenue, just before 2 a.m., Tuesday.
“What happened? I’m still trying to wrap my head around it,” said homeowner Donna Allen.
Allen said she was woken up by her grandson moments after the crash.
“I got up out of bed, I come down the hallway, and I met my refrigerator in my hallway,” she said.
The homeowner said everyone inside the home made it out OK.
“[My grandson] saw the car starting to catch fire, so he was just screaming, ‘Everybody get out the house! Get out the house!’ But I was still asleep, disoriented and trying to take it in, so I was the last one out of the house,” she said. “My daughter and the baby made it out, the little one made it out.”
The driver of the car, however, was trapped, and the vehicle caught fire, neighbors rushed to help.
“I was tellling the 911 guy that whoever’s in here is incinerated,” said area resident Michael Kaplan.
But the driver was awake, and as the flames grew, Kaplan urged the motorist to crawl out of the car.
“Then, out of nowhere, I see the kid start crawling out of his window, falls face first,” he said.
Cellphone video taken by a witness showed firefighters working to extinguish the vehicle fire before they spread further.
All occupants of the home were left uninjured, but the driver was transported from the scene to a local hospital with a broken leg.
Officials said the driver is expected to be OK.
7News cameras captured the moment a police officer gave a cross necklace found at the scene to the car’s owner. His friend was the one driving the vehicle at the time of the crash.
The impact of the crash destroyed a major support beam of Allen’s home, forcing the family out.
“Luckily, the fire station is just up the road,” said Allen. “The cops came and that was it. They put out the fire, got the car out my house, and then I looked and then reality kicked in that we can’t go back in the house.”
Allen said she is just grateful it wasn’t anything worse.
“I’m just glad that everybody is OK. I am just grateful to God that everybody is OK, and we’ll be fine,” said Allen.
She said they will be staying with family for the time being.
Police said the vehicle was traveling at a high speed when it crashed into the home.
Copyright 2025 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.