A woman was rescued from a burning chalet near a Moray village by a hero passerby.
The alarm was raised after smoke was seen billowing from the property near Tomintoul and fire crews were called to the scene.
Nearby residents ran to help the woman and her pets and firefighters spent about three hours bringing the blaze under control.
Last night the woman was recovering after hospital treatment for minor injuries but it was feared her dog and cat ad died in the incident.
A brave member of the public led the woman to safety before the emergency services arrived at the scene.
A man who had also been in the home managed to escape.
One Tomintoul resident said: “The people there managed to round-up two of the dogs and get leads on them.
“Another one is missing, it’s obviously feared it might not have got out. There’s a cat that’s still missing too.”
An investigation is due to start today to try to pinpoint what started the fire.
Smoke was still rising from the smouldering remains of charred wood and twisted metal.
Five fire crews battled the flames.
Jets poured water on to the building as it burned while firefighters used breathing apparatus.
The local team from Tomintoul was first at the scene but was soon backed up by crews from Dufftown, Grantown, Ballater and a support vehicle from Elgin.
There were long tailbacks along the rural A939 Lecht road after police closed the route.
Motorists could see smoke rising from behind trees as they were diverted.
A fire service spokesman said: “There will be an investigation commencing today. We had two jets and four breathing apparatus there.
“One female was rescued from the property, she was led out by a passerby.
“She was taken to hospital with minor injuries. There was also a male casualty who did not require assistance.
“The first appliance arrived at the scene at 12.25pm. The last one left at about 4pm. The building was well alight when they arrived.”
