Firefighters remained at the scene of a huge blaze on the Black Isle more than 24 hours after it first broke out.
The wildfire on the hillside above Kilmuir came within yards of two homes – and fire crews were still there yesterday evening damping down remaining hotspots.
The fire had been burning since around 3.30pm on Tuesday and its peak through off a huge plume of smoke which could be seen around the inner Moray Firth and Inverness.
One of the residents last night thanked the fire service for their actions.
Margaret Ross was unaware of the fire until the fire service arrived, thinking the smoke she could smell was from someone burning garden rubbish.
She lives in the area with her pet dog Harry, a Lhasa apso.
Last night she said: “It was a bit scary at one point, those flames were just too close.”
The fire, burning in a mix of trees and gorse, came within 10 yards of the fence at the end of her garden before being controlled by firefighters.
She praised the fire service for their efforts and even supplied them with tea and biscuits during the lengthy operation.
Ms Ross said: “They have been wonderful the whole time they’ve been here.
“They are so dedicated and they’ve been answering questions about what is happening.
“They been great and I just want to say thanks to them.”
Ms Ross left her home on Tuesday evening to stay with friends because of the strong smell of smoke but she returned with her dog yesterday morning.
Fire crews remained at the scene yesterday evening damping down the fire and watching out for remaining hotspots.
Speaking at the scene, Dingwall station manager Rick Dibble said: “Crews have been tackling this wildfire in amongst some trees and gorse bushes on some very difficult terrain.
“We had some appliances here last night dealing with this, and then as the crews came out to check again this morning we’ve had various flare-ups and hot spots to deal with so we’ve committed another three appliances and a community response unit to this incident.
“We seem to be on top of things now, however we will continue to monitor the situation until it is truly extinguished.”