Investigators scoured the charred remains of a crumbling 19th century house in Moray yesterday to piece together the cause of a ferocious fire.
The derelict property Brae Lossie, at Prospect Drive in Lossiemouth, has been empty for years.
But on Thursday night, 25 firefighters, equipped with two hose reel jets and breathing apparatus, spent more than two hours battling a blaze which erupted inside.
Two appliances from Elgin, others from Lossiemouth, Fochabers and Rothes, a height vehicle and supporting pump from Aberdeen, the welfare unit from Huntly, an incident command unit from Altens and the water carrier from Buckie were all involved in the incident, which was brought under control just before 9.30pm.
Crews remained at the scene throughout the night to check for any remaining hot spots.
Then yesterday, council building standards officers and a structural engineer were drafted in by emergency services to assist with ongoing investigations into the incident.
A Scottish Fire & Rescue Service spokesman said: “There are concerns for the stability of the building and both police and fire are at the scene.
“The fire investigation unit will begin work to establish the cause of the blaze.”
Last night, a police spokesman added that it was too early to determine if the fire was suspicious.
He said: “A joint investigation with the fire and rescue service is ongoing and that will establish the full circumstances.”
Local teacher Alasdair Cox, who lives beside Brae Lossie, made a 999 call to the fire service after a concerned passer-by alerted his family to smoke billowing from next door.
He said the strong gusts in the area that day could have made the situation much worse.
Mr Cox said: “It was around 7pm, a guy knocked at the door and said there was smoke coming out of the building.
“I called the fire, they were here in about ten minutes and that was it. They took it from there.
“Earlier in the day, around 3pm, it was blowing a gale up here. The wind blew out panes of glass in our green house.
“But we were really lucky because when the fire started, and during the fire, the wind died down.
“Last summer, we cut back our trees and, if not for that, they would have leaned right over in a high wind and could have caught fire.”