A man was rushed to hospital last night with burns to his face, legs and hands after an explosion sparked a dramatic fire at a north-east farm.
Police, ambulance and fire teams were called to the scene of the incident at Mosseye Farm, just east of Oldmeldrum, just after 3.10pm.
Last night the man was still receiving treatment at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary for burns.
However, it is understood that his injuries are non-life threatening.
Around 20 firefighters on board five fire appliances were called to the farm where the explosion took place.
They battled the subsequent blaze for several hours before it was finally extinguished.
Fire crews from Inverurie, Ellon and Kintore rushed to the farm and were praised for protecting a nearby family home from the flames. which could be seen miles away.
Nearby residents heard loud bangs and could see black smoke billowing into the sky from the blaze.
One resident said: “It was like a loud bang…there were little fire balls coming up.
“The fire was quite high and moved over to the trees.”
They watched as firefighters used jets to control the flames and prevent the fire from spreading elsewhere.
The resident continued: “It was quite a big fire considering the area. The flames were taller than the house.”
Aberdeenshire Fire Station manager Chay Ewing was at the scene.
He said: “We got a call to the fire at a property, in an outbuilding. When the crews got there it was a well developed fire. We had four appliances and a water carrier.
“The fire was so well developed that there was no chance of saving the outbuildings at the property which has a few sheds.
“The gentleman was working in one of the outhouses at the rear of the property when the fire developed.”
Mr Ewing said the man had “flash burns to his hands, legs and face.”
“The property was fed by portable gas and domestic heating oil, so what the crew has done is let the cylinders vent off as well as cool down and put a foam blanket on the top of the domestic heating fuel.”
Gas cylinders were “venting off”, before the fire service arrived, but there were no explosions after fire crews had arrived at the farm.
Mr Ewing added: “We had the property protected and the fire under control within 30 minutes of arriving.
“After that, it was just a case of cooling and protecting the building so it did not spread to the domestic property.
“I would like to congratulate the crews for controlling the scene and protecting it from spreading into the family’s home.”
A police spokesman said that they were alerted to news of the incident at 3.10pm.
He added: “There were reports regarding an explosion and fire within a detached wooden garage at Mosseye Farm.”
No one was trapped inside the 328ft by 49ft burning building.
Nobody else was injured, and. last night, police and fire teams said that there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the incident.
Firefighters left the scene at around 7.15pm.