A P.E.I. motorist police say was drunk lost control of his car and plowed into the living room of an apartment in a semi-detached house in Charlottetown on Sunday, starting a fire.

The incident happened at about 2:45 a.m. The home's residents were away at the time, but a 20-year-old female passenger in the car was taken to hospital, where she was treated and released. The driver did not require a trip to hospital.

The home's landlord says he will likely have to rebuild. (Ryan Hicks/CBC)

Charlottetown police said the 25-year-old driver was drunk and failed a breathalyzer. He was also driving with a suspended licence, without valid insurance in an unregistered vehicle. Several charges have been laid against the driver, who is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 15.

Police said the man was speeding on Brackley Point Road. When he got to St. Peters Road, he left the roadway, hurtled through the International Restaurant parking lot, striking three vehicles, hit an embankment, went airborne and landed in the living room.

The car became engulfed in flames and the house caught on fire.

Hazel Blanchard lives on the other side of the house.

"My son woke me up and said, 'Did you hear that bang?' And then we heard people at the door telling us to get out," Blanchard said. "The firemen, it took them a while to get here."

The people who lived at the home that was struck are reportedly on vacation. There was no one inside the house at the time, but two cats died.