A family cat's early morning antics in an empty kitchen have been blamed for a house fire in Canberra this morning.

Key points: Nobody was injured in the blaze, which was contained to the kitchen

Nobody was injured in the blaze, which was contained to the kitchen The fire started when a cat knocked plastic wrap onto the stove

The fire started when a cat knocked plastic wrap onto the stove Firefighters say it's a reminder to ensure stove tops are locked and switched off when not in use

Emma Rhodes said she and her daughter woke up to the smoke alarm about 6:15am.

"I saw smoke and I absolutely panicked because my three-year-old was asleep and it was so thick," Ms Rhodes said.

"You couldn't see through it at all."

Ms Rhodes grabbed her young child and fled outside, where she called triple-0.

When firefighters arrived at the home in Richardson in Canberra's south they extinguished the small blaze and found the cause — Belle the black cat.

"It turned out that the cat had knocked the roll of cling wrap onto the stove and stepped on the ceramic cooktop and it had turned it on," Ms Rhodes said.

The blaze was contained to the kitchen. ( ABC News: Isaac Nowroozi )

Ms Rhodes said it was a touch-sensitive stovetop, which was primed to heat up when something was placed onto it.

The damage was minimal, and Ms Rhodes and her partner Brent Lavis said they still loved Belle.

"I honestly just laughed, that's all you can do," Ms Rhodes said.

Belle the cat was not injured in the fire. ( ABC News: Isaac Nowroozi )

But, according to Ms Rhodes, the whole tale had a silver lining with her daughter finding her dream job because of the accident.

"She got really excited when the firefighters came," Ms Rhodes said.

"But then she was even more upset because she wasn't able to ask them how to become a firefighter."

ACT Fire and Rescue said the incident served as a reminder to ensure all stove tops were locked and switched off when not in use, and to make sure all homes had working smoke alarms.

No one was injured and, in this instance, curiosity did not kill the cat.