These pictures show the aftermath of a ferocious fire at a Moray farm which left an outbuilding a smouldering wreck.
Thirty firefighters battled a fierce blaze for nearly three hours yesterday morning.
The electricity supply in the area was switched off as a precaution as flames engulfed the steading building at Mains of Allanbuie near Keith.
It had been feared a number of pigs were trapped in the shed when the fire broke out.
But farmer Peter Milton was able to open the at the steading and the animals all ran to safety.
The alarm was raised around 9.45am and one pump from Dufftown as well as a pump and water carrier from Buckie were sent to the scene.
A short time later four more units – from Huntly, Aberlour, Elgin and Fochabers – arrived at the farm.
Firefighters using breathing apparatus used three main jets to tackle the blaze.
An incident support vehicle from Elgin was also sent to the scene, and an engineer from power company SSE shut off the electricity supply to the farm at 11.15am.
The blaze was brought under control just after midday, and Mr Milton, used a forklift to remove piles of burning straw, which firefighters damped down in a nearby field.
Crews were still at the scene with Mr Milton until after 6pm damping down and spreading straw to ensure there were no hot spots left.
The fire brigade’s Aberdeen group manager, David Meldrum, said: “At approximately 9.45am we received a call to some buildings involved in a fire. Upon arrival, crews found a well developed barn fire in some buildings containing straw.
“Crews worked hard to contain the fire to the building that was involved and continued to dampen down thereafter.
“Scottish Fire and Rescue had 30 firefighters from six appliances from the Aberdeenshire and Moray areas, four breathing apparatus and three main jets on site at the height of the incident.”
Station manager Willie Chisholm, who was incident commander at the scene, added: “The crews did a great job to protect a nearby workshop and house from the fire.
“We got the fire under control, and continued to carry out damping down operations until we were satisfied there were no more heat spots.”
A Scottish and Southern Energy spokeswoman said: “Aberdeenshire fire and rescue asked us to disconnect the power supply for safety reasons.
“This was done at 11.15am, and three properties on or near the farm were affected. One of our engineers remained on site to reconnect the power when it was safe to do so.”
