A cigarette is believed to have caused a fire in the Landers area early this morning. According to County Fire Captain Matt Anderson, a woman who was smoking fell asleep in her chair and started the chair on fire about 2 a.m. in the 1100 block of Balsa Avenue. It took firefighters from Yucca Mesa, Yucca Valley, and Joshua Tree about 10 minutes to arrive and 10 minutes to get the fire under control. The small homestead cabin is a total loss. While the woman escaped without injury, she told firefighters her three cats were missing. Anderson reminded residents to install working smoke alarms in their homes, adding that there was no smoke alarm in the cabin, nor in the home on Mitch Lane that burned Saturday.
