A Blairgowrie farmer has been left counting the cost of a blaze which ripped through his property early on Monday but firefighters revealed it could have been much worse for the area.
The fire, which destroyed £10,000 of equipment at Wester Kinloch Farm, almost reached 3000 litres of diesel nearby.
Owner Ian Crawford praised the fire service for its rapid response, which ensured the blaze was contained in an 18th century stone steading on the farm and avoided potential disaster.
The 74-year-old farmer said, “It was a very fast response from Tayside Fire and Rescue. Four appliances came in about 10 minutes. When we noticed it about 1.30am most of the roof was gone already.
“It’s difficult to say what value the machinery was but I would say about £10,000. We’re just glad no one was hurt.
“We had about 3000 litres of diesel stored very close by so we were very lucky the fire didn’t spread.”
A total of 20 firefighters from Blairgowrie, Coupar Angus and Alyth arrived to find the building well alight.
Neil Kerr, station manager at Perth fire station said, “The fire had been building for a short period of time and was well established in the roofspace.
“Once we got the fire under control at 3.01am it was a case of damping down but the roof was too unstable to cut away. We used the imaging camera to establish there were no hotspots.”
As well as the emergency services, Scottish Hydro Electric sent technicians to the area to make overhead cables safe.
Mr Crawford said the firefighters were hampered in their efforts because the nearest water hydrant was half a mile away on the road, meaning water had to be pumped up.
He said the fire could not have come at a worse time for the farm, destroying as it did a tractor, grass topper and grain trailer.
“We’re at midsummer now so we’re using that tractor and topper to trim the grass and weeds every three days or so,” he added.