A survivor of the head-on collision that left three people dead near St. Catharines early Friday morning says she and her husband are lucky to be alive.

"The police officer said to us that if we'd been driving something small, we wouldn't be here today," Nancy Yungblut told CBC News.

The collision happened on Regional Road 20 west of Fonthill, Ont., around 1 a.m.

Nancy, her husband Jim and two friends had just returned from the Calgary Stampede and were in an SUV driven from the Hamilton airport when a car heading west drifted into their lane.

"You could the see the lights coming and he was right over on our side of the road," she said.

Jim Yungblut swerved to avoid a head-on crash. The other vehicle burst into flames on impact, killing three of the four people inside.

The Yungblut SUV was barely recognizable, and firefighters had to cut them from the vehicle.

'It's a horrific event'

Jim Yungblut was airlifted to Hamilton hospital with an injured arm and foot. The five people who were taken to the hospital had non-life threatening injuries.

The accident happened on a bit of a bend in the road, said Niagara Regional Police Const. Rich Gadreau.

"It's a country road," he said. "It's one of the main arteries through this area."

Sharon Horton has lived a few metres from the crash site for 45 years. The sound of the collision, which she described as a bang, woke her around 1 a.m. Collisions are fairly common on the long, flat stretch of road, she said.

"It's a horrific event," said Jeff McGuire, the Niagara police chief. "It's certainly going to cause a great ripple for the community and the region."

McGuire said 15 people have died on roads in the area so far this year — the same as all of last year.