A north farmer has vowed to rebuild after a devastating early morning fire destroyed an important farm building.
The fire at Oldfield Farm in Thurso could be seen for miles around on the Caithness landscape – with black smoke billowing from the building, only a few yards from the main farmhouse.
Oldfield Farm is close to the A9 on the Thurso to Scrabster road.
The barn was completely destroyed with seven fire crews in attendance at the scene from 6.35am today.
The farm, owned by Charles Angus, a sheep breeder and agricultural engineering business in the north said: “One shed has been completely destroyed in the fire.
“We plan to rebuild the shed as it houses an important part of our business.
“We have been told it was an electrical fire.
“It goes without saying that I would like to thank the Fire Service and the crews for bringing the blaze under control without any further damage to nearby buildings.”
Mr Angus and his wife Isobel are renowned as Texel breeders in the region – lifting many prizes for their stock. No animals were harmed in the fire.
Mr Angus continued: “We want to move on now and get the barn rebuilt and sorted.”
A spokesman for the Fire and Rescue service said: “We were phoned by a member of the public at 6.35am to black smoke at Oldfield Road in Thurso.
“Initially two appliances were sent to the scene from Thurso. They informed Police colleagues and asked them to attend.
“On arrival on scene at 6.49am, and after assessing the fire, they requested assistance from other crews.
“Six more appliances were tasked from Wick, John O’Groats, Dunbeath, Helmsdale and Golspie.
“They were all required to put out the blaze at the fire building.
“It took fire officers more than an hour and fifteen minutes to bring the blaze under control. They used five main jets, two hose reel jets and four officers used breathing apparatus to extinguish the fire.”
Officers remained on scene to oversee the dampening down process, and to make sure that no hot spot reignited. Appliances left the scene at 10.41am.
A Police spokesman said: “We were called at 6.38am by our Fire and Rescue Service colleagues.
“We attended and we on scene as the fire was extinguished.”