Aberfeldy woman 'lost everything' in fire that reduced home of 67 years to rubble

Funds are being raised for an elderly woman in Perthshire who watched as her house of over 67 years burned to the ground.

Marion Drummond (McDougall) lost all of her belongings in a fire at her cottage in Fortingall, Aberfeldy on Friday.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service sent twelve appliances and specialist resources to the scene after 10am on Friday.

Images showed the 74-year-old’s thatched cottage on the main road had been reduced to rubble.

The blaze affected a number of properties in the area near Loch Tay, after crews were initially called to reports of a shed on fire.

Firefighters remained at the scene until Saturday morning. There were no reported casualties.

A fundraiser has been set up to help Ms Drummond after she was unable to renew her contents insurance before the fire.

A post on the page read: “I have set up this go fund me to try and help Marion after she unfortunately lost her home of 67 years, along with all of her belongings in a devastating fire in Fortingall, Aberfeldy.

“Marion lives in the village full time and has lost everything in the fire.

“Thankfully the building itself was insured at the time, but with many insurance companies now refusing to insure thatched cottages or their contents, Marion was unfortunately unable to renew her contents insurance before the fire stole everything she had.”

An SFRS spokesperson said: “We were alerted at 10.27am on Friday, March 21 to reports of a shed on fire on the main road in Fortingall in Perthshire.

“Operations Control initially mobilised one fire appliance to the scene.

“Due to repeat calls and further information, this was upgraded to a dwelling fire.

“At its height, 12 fire appliances, one high reach vehicle, and specialist resources were at the scene where firefighters worked to extinguish a fire affecting a number of properties.

“There were no reported casualties. We left the scene on Saturday, March 22 at 8.28am.”