An elderly man was taken to hospital after a raging barn fire in Lewis.
Locals reported hearing an explosion and loud bangs when the outbuilding in the village of Coll, about six miles outside Stornoway, caught alight in the late morning.
Gas cylinders were “involved” in the incident, said a fire service spokesman.
Flames, fanned by strong winds, engulfed the building sending a plume of thick black smoke billowing in the sky.
Wind speeds were increasing with a force eight gale forecast.
Fortunately, the weather blew the flames away from the adjacent house where the casualty and his wife are believed to reside.
A cordon was set up around the incident with a police block initially preventing entry from the mainland road into the village.
Four fire crews initially attended – two from nearby Stornoway, plus tenders from Shawbost and Ness.
The blaze was quickly brought under control but crews continued to douse the site, with fire engines refilling their water tanks at a hydrant in the neighbouring village of Back.
Police supervised a one-way loop system for fire engines coming in and out along the narrow single track road.
Reinforcements were summoned from Harris, nearly an hour away, and the South Lochs crew was called in to assist as crews maintained a dampening-down operation. Fire crews were still at the scene on Sunday evening.
A police spokesman said: “A 74-year-old man was taken to hospital for treatment and has since been released.
“Inquiries to establish the cause of the fire are ongoing.”
A fire service spokeswoman said: “We received the call at 11.32am. We had five pumps attending.”
In addition, a sixth crew, was later called in.
One motorist said they observed the fire from the roadside.
He said: “The sky was black with smoke going high into the air and blown by the wind.”
Residents coming home from church were initially not allowed to access their homes due to the cordon and had to wait at the road end.
Sarah and Kirsty Hart were concerned their five horses would be spooked by the billowing smoke. The animals were grazing in a nearby croft and the sisters worried the wind direction would change.
Sarah Hart feared the horses could panic with even the smell of the smoke and collide into fences if they tried to escape the field.
She said: “They could hurt themselves or get out onto the main road.”
Kirsty Hart said: “We heard about the fire and came straight down. I was worried if the wind changes direction and we wanted to make sure they were ok.”
