A mother and her two children were injured early Wednesday when fire destroyed their 100-year-old-plus home in Caldwell County.

But Caldwell County Fire Marshal Kevin Brown says a smoke detector might have saved the residents’ lives.

The fire was reported shortly after 3:15 a.m. at a wooden farmhouse in the 5400 block of Sheriff’s Road. That is in the Oak Hill community, a few miles east of Lenoir.

The home’s owner, Monica Hollar, told authorities she was awakened by the smoke detector and found flames coming from the wall around the wood-burning stove in the dining room. Hollar said she tried to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher, but the fire spread.

She then got her 4-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter out of the house safely. Brown said the mother and two children were treated for smoke inhalation.

Brown said the fire started in the pipe of the wood stove, and the flames spread into the walls of the house. The American Red Cross is helping the family.

Firefighters from the Little River, Valmead and Sawmills fire departments battled the blaze, with help from the Hudson and Grace Chapel fire departments.