Residents in Auchterarder fled their homes in the early hours of Thursday as a fire took hold behind a restaurant on High Street.
Firefighters tackled the blaze in a shed near Henderson’s Bistro for nearly two hours.
Don Marshall, who lives in a flat on the street, says he was woken by a neighbour at around 4.30am as flames threatened to come close to his building.
The 53-year-old told The Courier: “At around 4.35am this morning one resident woke up because they could see lights.
“They looked out the window and saw a fire and they woke up the other neighbours.
“The flames were very close and we weren’t let back into the house (by firefighters) until around 6.30am.
“I thought there was someone crazy banging on my door.
“I went down and grabbed my jacket and left as quickly as I could.
“There was a fire engine there already at that point.
“I think there were four or five apartments where residents evacuated.
“Initially it was residents who made the decision to leave but then we were told to stay out until it was safe.
“The local fire brigade and police were fantastic and did a great job.”
In a post on Facebook, The Auchter Larder sandwich shop said: “A hectic early start this morning!
“There might be a delay in our opening times this morning as there was a fire at the back of the high street in the early hours.
“Fortunately everyone is safe and a big thanks to the amazing fire service made up from our ‘locals’ who are still working hard out there.”
Crews tackle shed fire in Auchterarder
A spokesperson for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “We attended a shed on fire on Thursday morning.
“The call came in at 5.04am.
“We sent three appliances – two from Auchterarder and one from Crieff.
“We used two breathing apparatus, one hose jet, one reel jet, and a thermal image camera.
“The stop call came at 6.54am.”
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