A passer-by has been hailed with saving a woman from fire in her Inverness home by phoning the police when he heard her smoke alarm going off.
Emergency services scrambled to the property on Oldtown Road in the Hilton area of the city just after midnight on Thursday.
A member of the public raised the alarm after hearing a smoke alarm from outside the building.
The fire service described the ground floor flat to be “well alight” upon arrival – with a senior firefighter describing the incident as “extremely challenging”.
A neighbour in the lane off Oldtown Road said the woman was saved by the man who heard the smoke alarm.
He said: “Without him it would have been much worse. He saved her life for sure.
“I just hope she’s okay now.”
Firefighters wearing breathing equipment entered the burning building and managed to remove the occupant and her two dogs.
The casualty was then passed into the care of the ambulance service before being transferred to the city’s Raigmore Hospital.
A spokesman for the ambulance service described the woman as being in a “serious condition”.
One of the dogs died at the scene.
The other was coaxed by firefighters from under a bed and moved to safety.
The two crews from Inverness quickly tackled the fire and left the area at 1.39am.
Afterwards, Inverness-based Station Manager Ross Nixon said: “Thanks to the quick actions taken by the member of the public who heard the smoke alarm, the emergency services were able to swiftly respond to this incident.
“This was an extremely challenging situation however the professionalism displayed by firefighters and our emergency service partners at Scottish Ambulance Service and Police Scotland, ensured the situation was quickly brought under control.
“This once again highlights the importance of having a working smoke alarm in the home.
“Had someone not heard the alarm then this incident would most certainly have had a less positive conclusion.
“One of our roles is to help make your home as safe from fire as it can be. This is why we provide free Home Fire Safety Visits, which can be arranged anytime and will help you find any potential fire hazards.”
A spokeswoman for the police said the fire was being treated as “non-suspicious”.
