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ADAIR COUNTY, MO. -- Thanks to smoke alarms, a Kirksville-area woman was able to escape safely from her burning home early Monday afternoon.

Cathy Steele, who lives on Seven Hills Way about six miles east of Kirksville, told KTVO she was sleeping when her smoke alarms woke her up shortly after 1 p.m.

Steele said her house was filled with smoke, and the flames seemed to be the worst in the living room area.

Investigators say the fire was caused by burning cigarettes left too close to living room furniture.

Steele said after she got out of the house, she was able go in the back door of the home and grab a couple of loads of laundry out of the utility room so she and her sons would at least have some clothes to wear.

Her boys were away at school when the fire happened.

An investigator from the Missouri State Fire Marshal's Office is helped with the investigation.

Eastern Adair County Fire Chief James Snyder said the home is a total loss.