The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Ross-shire house razed in devastating overnight fire
Emergency: Man taken to hospital and next-door family forced to flee
A house has been destroyed in a devastating overnight fire in Muir of Ord.
A man was hospitalised after the blaze at his home in Logan Way in the Rossshire village.
He is not believed to be seriously injured.
A family living in the adjacent house in the semidetached property also had to flee their home as the fire took hold.
Their property also suffered extensive damage in the blaze.
The fire was reported just before midnight on Sunday night.
Firefighters remained at the scene until after daylight the following morning.
Neighbours reported seeing flames from the property and people calling for help.
One neighbour said: “I heard this loud banging sound and people shouting help.
“It’s pretty shocking. People were shouting for us to get out the house in case there was an explosion,” added the neighbour.
“There wasn’t but I’m still pretty shaken up by it all.”
Another neighbour witnessed the flames from his house across the street.
He alerted the family next door before aiding the resident of the house which had gone up in flames.
He said: “I had never spoken to him until last night.
“He was taken off to hospital but he seemed OK considering what had happened.
“He was obviously shocked but he didn’t seem too bad.”
Residents of Logan Way closest to the house were evacuated while firefighters worked at the scene.
Joan Kafetzaki said: “I was asleep when I heard some sort of disturbance but I didn’t think anything of it.
“But then some somebody came to my door, police or fire service, and told me I had to get out the house.
“I went to a place further down the street so I couldn’t really see what was happening.
“I was allowed back in later on, about 2.30am I think.
“There’s certainly not much left of the house now. It’s a real shame.”
A f ire serv ice spokeswoman confirmed that four fire appliances and a specialist high-reach unit were sent to the scene.
They used three powerful hosereel jets and a main jet to extinguish the fire.
The fire was extinguished at around 5.20am but crews remained at the scene for some time afterwards to dampen down hotspots.
Structural engineers were called to assess the building yesterday and the area around the house was fenced off yesterday morning.
“There’s certainly not much left of the house now”