A massive blaze on a Moray farm has caused thousands of pounds worth of damage and the loss of straw, feed and machinery.
Fire crews from Buckie, Elgin and volunteers at Gordonstoun were called to the fire in a barn at Ashfield Farm near Garmouth on Friday.
For much of the day the crews fought to protect a nearby livestock building – but they were unable to save the barn containing machinery and 3000 bales of straw.
An investigation has now been launched into the cause of the fire that saw crews called to the farm at 10.30am.
Fire chief Anna Rogers said: “Due to the intensity of the heat from the straw that was alight we were unable to put crews in the barn for fear of it collapsing – the steelwork has already started to collapse.
“The strong wind was making the fire more intense and making it more important for us to protect the animals in the barn as they could have been taking in the smoke that was travelling down to the other buildings.
“Our job was to cool the outside area, contain it within the barn itself and protect the animals that are in the barn adjacent to the fire.”
In is understood that pigs were housed in the adjacent barn.
Investigations into the cause are ongoing but Fire Chief Rogers added: “We have no idea what the cause was at this point – there are no electrics involved or anything that is obvious.”