Nearly 30 firefighters battled to save an Aberdeenshire family’s home last night after a blaze broke out in their car port.
Four crews were called to the “severe, well developed” fire on the outskirts of Strachan, near Banchory, just after 4pm yesterday.
And last night firefighters praised the family’s teenager daughter, who raised the alarm after spotting the flames.
The teams from Stonehaven, Dyce, Aberdeen and Altens battled the flames for more than an hour-and-a-half, focusing their efforts on preventing it from spreading through the house.
They appeared to be fighting the fire from the back of the house, which is two miles west of Strachan.
Nobody was hurt in the drama, and the family could be seen watching helplessly as firefighters worked to save their home. They were too upset to talk.
Speaking at the scene, Aberdeen station manager Gordon Riddell said: “We got a call at 4.07pm with reports of a fire in a car port adjacent to a house.
“Two appliances were mobilised to the incident, and were faced with quite a severe, well developed fire, which was under control by about 5.30pm.
“Two additional fire appliances were sent, along with an incident command vehicle from Altens, a water carrier from Stonehaven, and an incident support vehicle from Dyce.
“The fire had spread from the car port to a part of the house, however firefighters worked hard and managed to prevent further fire spreading beyond to the rest of the house.
“The house is extensively fire and heat damaged, but thankfully there was working smoke detection and one of the daughters was in the house at the time of the fire, and she immediately called the fire service and alerted us.”
After the flames were extinguished, firefighters could be seen dampening down piles of burnt-out debris inside the car port.
An investigation is now underway, but Mr Riddell said the fire did not appear to be suspicious.
He added: “It’s looking like it’s accidental. Thankfully nobody was hurt in the incident.”
He said it was a “timely reminder” for people to ensure their smoke detectors were working, and to arrange a free home fire safety visit if required.
The B976 Banchory to Ballater road was closed from the Feughside Inn to the Strachan junction while the various emergency vehicles were in use. It reopened just after 8pm.
Anyone interested in organising a fire safety visit should call 0800 0731 999 or visit www.firescotland.gov.uk