Hollywood House Fire Leaves Family Homeless But Grateful To Be Alive

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HOLLYWOOD (CBSMiami) – A pregnant mother, her 14-month-old daughter and her parents are homeless after a raging fire swept through their Fillmore Street home in Hollywood on Thursday.

Stephanie Payas says it still feels like a dream as she surveyed the damage on her boarded up home Friday.

Payas says her mother woke her up from a deep sleep Thursday as smoke filled their house.

"I am grateful," Payas said. "If she didn't wake me up, we would all be dead."

She says she had little sleep because her baby daughter is still getting over the flu and was fussy the night before.

"I was gonna drop my baby on the floor," she explained. "Somebody came to hold the baby. I got out through the window and a few seconds later my mom got out."

Her mom Marie Payas remains in the hospital, receiving treatment for extreme smoke inhalation.

Marie Payas tried to run back inside to save her other daughter Sandy who, it turns out, wasn't home.

Stephanie's 14-month-old daughter is out of the hospital and doing better.

As for Stephanie, she is still feeling the smoke effects and worried about her unborn child, due in

"It doesn't go away," she explained. "But they felt the baby's heart beat when they did a test at the hospital."

Her house is boarded up and what wasn't lost in the fire is heaped in a backyard pile that includes chairs, plants and even a door.

She is thankful to be alive but sad about family pictures lost in the fire.

"Pictures you can't get back and my baby's birth certificate is gone," she lamented.

Right now Stephanie is staying at an already full relative's home across the street, sleeping on the floor.

"It's like moving to a new town where you have nothing," she said.

If you can help the family please contact Neighbors 4 Neighbors.

The phone number is 305-597-4404.