The family of a well known Highland woman who died in a massive fire at her home yesterday paid tribute to the firefighters who tackled the blaze.
They also thanked locals for their support after flames engulfed Invernauld House at Rosehall in Sutherland on Saturday night.
Lady Jean Gilmour, 93, was unable to escape, despite a heroic rescue attempt by her 62-year-old carer, who survived and is being treated at Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, for burns to her face and hands.
And firefighters were unable to enter the two-and-a-half storey house after the blaze was put out to search for Lady Jean because the structure was unsafe.
Her son Colin Gilmour, of Shenaval, Rosehall, said he did not want to talk about his mother or the fire while she was still “unaccounted for”.
But he did want to say thank you to the emergency service personnel involved and to local people.
Mr Gilmour said: “We would like to thank the emergency services, especially the very professional firefighters, who battled in very difficult conditions to save as much of the house and contents as possible.
“However, it was so intense that, in the end, the whole roof caved in throughout the property.
“And local people have been incredibly kind, rallying around and helping in many different ways.”
The carer, who is understood to have made a “brave” but unsuccessful bid to save Lady Jean from the fire, has not been named.
And Mr Gilmour said she had asked that nothing be said about her or her efforts to save his mother.
Lady Jean was the widow of Colonel Sir Allan Gilmour, who served with the Seaforth Highlanders and won the Military Cross for his heroism in the Battle of El Alamein. At one time she ran the Rosehall Craft Shop and was a former director of the Sutherland Tourist Board.