Three people awoke to smoke and flames as a Valentine’s Day fire gutted a Centerville home at 108 Brown Drive Thursday morning.

One of the homeowner’s roommates hit the snooze button on the alarm clock at 6 a.m., dozed and then heard the crackling noise of the flames, said Capt. David Bostick of the Centerville Fire Department.

Everyone got out of their beds and fled the house safely, but when firefighters opened the door, the fire flashed, and the building could not be saved, Bostick said.

“It’s a total loss,” he said.

Flames ate through the roof and completely burned the inside of the single-story, brick veneer house, he said.

Maj. William Cooley of the Centerville Police Department said he was called at 7 a.m. He estimated the fire began about 6:30 a.m.

Centerville fire investigators are trying to pinpoint the cause of the blaze, but Bostick suspects it might be electrical in nature.

They won’t know for sure until they can look at all the evidence.

The home in the Crestwood subdivision off Collins Avenue had a smoke detector, but it apparently did not have fresh batteries.