Fire crews tackle blaze at Portgordon Maltings

Firefighters have extinguished a blaze at a grain factory near Buckie.

Crews were alerted to a fire in a building at Portgordon Maltings at about 1.15pm.

Five appliances were scrambled to the scene where it is believed a grain dryer had gone up in flames.

Smoke could be seen rising from the buildings on site as crews worked to bring the blaze under control.

Firefighters remained at the site until 11pm, with appliances dampening down hotspots.

At the peak of the fire, a total of seven appliances and a height vehicle were in use.

Crews travelled from Buckie, Aberlour, Banff, Cannich, Elgin, Huntly and Keith to attend the incident.

The response was significantly scaled back into the evening but crews continued to monitor the area nine hours after the fire first broke out.

Police were also called out to assist and set up a cordon around the whole site.

Another grain fire was reported at the site in April last year, with more than a dozen crews spending 16 hours on site ensuring there were no further “flare-ups”.