Cat saves family from house fire

BRISBANE - A pet cat has saved four people from a house fire in far north Queensland, a firefighter says.

The cat clawed its sleeping owner's face after the man's mattress caught fire at a property in Cairns about 2am local time (4am NZT) today.

The man then woke his family who then escaped the blaze and alerted fire authorities.

The home received only minor damage and fire investigators believe the blaze could have been started by a cigarette.

"The occupant was woken by the household cat which was scratching his face, alerting (him) to the ensuing dangers," Cairns Fire Station acting station officer Robert White-MacFarlane told ABC radio.

"There were alarms throughout the house but the smoke saturation hadn't reached a point where they'd activated the alarms in the adjacent room."

- AAP