A woman and her two young children fled the house but the family's pet Alsatian was trapped inside.
Fire crews managed to rescue the dog but were unable to revive it.
Station officer Philip Hayward, of Oxfordshire Fire Service, said the blaze, which gutted the lounge of the house, started after the woman's four-year-old son accidentally set fire to a sofa.
He said: "It is believed he lit a throw-over on the sofa with a cigarette lighter."
The woman's husband, a soldier serving with the 23 Pioneer Regiment and stationed at nearby St David's Barracks, was out at the time of the blaze. The family was last night being looked after at the Bicester Garrison.
Mr Hayward said the house was fitted with a smoke alarm but it had been disabled after several false alarms.
Story date: Monday 08 February
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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