Fire crews from three Moray towns were rushed to Lhanbryde late on Thursday evening to tackle a major house fire.
Over 30 firefighters were called to St Andrew’s Road in Lhanbryde at around 10pm when the alarm was raised by the occupant’s brother who lives nearby.
Four appliances were sent from Fochabers, Elgin and Lossiemouth while a special incident unit was also called in from Aberdeen. Firefighters used breathing apparatus to tackle the fire but were relieved to find that nobody was in the building – the male occupant of the building escaped without injury.
Police set up road blocks around the area and an ambulance crew was called in as a precaution.
A spokesman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “We received a call at 21.57 and sent 33 firefighters to the scene.
“We asked an ambulance to attend as part of the usual protocol due to the number of appliances involved but we have had no indication of anyone in the property.”
It is the second major blaze in the Moray town this year – in February, 82-year-old Catherine Henderson died when a fire broke out at her home on Robertson Road in the town.