SA man saved from burning home by mates

A man has been hospitalised for smoke inhalation after his mates pulled him from a burning home north of Adelaide.

Three men escaped a house fire in Clare, in the state's mid-north, after waking to smoke just after midnight, the Country Fire Service says.

But they raced back inside to save their sleeping friend, who was taken to hospital for smoke inhalation.

The home had no fire alarms and the cause of the blaze, which was contained to the kitchen and lounge room, remains unknown.