Neighbours have described thick black smoke filling their street after a house fire in Hillside, near Montrose.
The fire broke out in the terraced cottage in Park Cottages around 5pm on Friday.
Immediate neighbour June Fraser was evacuated from her home for around three hours while firefighters tackled the blaze.
It is understood the house occupier, a man who was said by June to live alone, was taken to hospital via ambulance.
Street filled with smoke
June said: “I was in my house when I smelled smoke.
“I went to take a closer look and the whole of the street was filled with thick, black smoke.
“You couldn’t see across the road.”
June said that at the point she saw the occupier standing in the middle of the road outside his home.
“I don’t think he was badly hurt but he was taken in by another neighbour before he seemed to go away in an ambulance.”
She said: “Someone had called the fire brigade and meantime some workmen who were working nearby knocked on my door and told me to get out.
“My house is attached to the one that was on fire.”
June added: “Three fire engines soon arrived and it took them around three hours to put the fire out.
“I just had to wait around outside all that time.
“The fire brigade kept checking my loft to make sure the fire hadn’t spread but everything seemed to be okay and I got to go back inside eventually.
“It was pretty scary while it was happening.”
Emergency services Hillside house fire
June said that at the height of the blaze there were also three police vans and a car and an ambulance outside.
She said: “I think his house is completely gutted by the looks of things.”
Another local resident said: “There was a lot of thick, choking black smoke.
“The fire looked really bad at one point.”
A Scottish Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson said: “At 4.52pm on Friday we were called to a house fire at Park Cottages, Hillside by a neighbour who reported smoke in the street.
“Three crews from Montrose, Laurencekirk, and Brechin were dispatched to the scene.
“Crews used thermal imaging cameras and two hose jet reels to tackle the blaze.
“The stop message came in at 7.35pm and the last appliance left the scene at 9.18pm.”
Police Scotland has been approached for comment.
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