A farmer has been left counting the cost after 500 straw bales went up in flames.
Police and fire crews will investigate the incident, which happened at Stynie Farm at Mosstodloch at about 1pm yesterday.
It is understood a toddler raised the alarm after spotting the flames and telling his parents.
Firefighters spent three hours battling to prevent the flames from spreading, which also resulted in the power to nearby homes being cut as a precaution.
About 500 bales were alight when crews arrived, and an investigation will be launched.
Farmer Alan Durno said: “Taking into account the number of bales that were burned I think that would run to about £4,000 in damages.
“I didn’t know anything about the fire until the crews themselves contacted me, and by the time I got there all I could do was stand there and watch them burn.
“The bales were all rolled and ready to take home as feed for the winter, and we will now have to buy straw from elsewhere to make up for the loss.
“But that’s life, and the main thing is that no one was injured.”
A police spokesman added: “The fire service has suggested this may have been a wilful fire, which indicates there may be a criminal element.
“It has been allocated for investigation, and we will conduct that jointly with the fire service.”
A fire and rescue service spokeswoman added: “Fire crews from Elgin and Fochabers were called out to Stynie Farm at 12.43pm.
“They used a jet reel hose to douse the flames and left the scene at about 3.45pm, allowing what remained to burn out.”
Power to neighbouring properties was cut during the drama, due to concerns the fire could damage electricity lines.
An SSE spokesman explained: “The fire service contacted us to say that the fire was coming quite close to some of our overhead lines, so we isolated the supply.
“Power was cut on the lines running over the field at 1.50pm, and was restored at 3.30pm when we got the all-clear.”