Firefighters spent more than three hours fighting a house fire in Nairn yesterday.
The blaze destroyed about half of the semi-detached property in Grant Street and the whole house was smoke affected. No one was injured but an elderly woman was taken to hospital for a check-up on her breathing.
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and police are now investigating the cause of the fire.
It appears that the fire may have started outside of the property, as shown in this image taken by local resident Iain Fairweather, moments after the emergency services were called just before 11.25am.
Mr Fairweather, who lives in the adjacent King Street, said he was coming home from walking his dog when he noticed smoke rising from above the property.
He said: “It (the fire) was obviously raging outside the front of the house. There did not appear to be anyone around at the time. I left at the point the fire brigade arrived.”
Mr Fairweather added that a rabbit hutch could be seen in the garden which was perilously close to the flames.
Yesterday at about 1pm, smoke could be seen billowing out from the roof of the Grant Street property in the Fishertown area of Nairn, leaving a strong smell of smoke in the surrounding area.
Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus could be seen hosing water through an upstairs window.
King Street was closed off and Grant Street was cordoned off with police tape at its junctions with Society Street and Union Street.
Incident commander Derek Wilkie, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service district manager for Inverness and Nairn, said that about 20 firefighters worked in “arduous conditions” to fight the “well established” house fire.
He said that four fire appliances – one each from Nairn, Forres, Fochabers and Elgin – attended the blaze.
Crews used main jets and hose reel jets to extinguish the flames and thermal imaging cameras and cutting equipment were also used.
Mr Wilkie added: “We were called out at a fire in a semi-detached property.
“About 50% of the property has been destroyed by fire and it has been 100% smoke affected. Crews are ensuring the fire has not spread to adjoining premises.
“No one in the property was affected by the fire.”
He added that residents of neighbouring properties were evacuated during the blaze.
The stop message for the fire was called in at about 2.30pm.