By Richard Burdge

A MAN died last night in a tragic accident after suffering serious burns in a Highland Perthshire blaze.

Retained firefighters from Pitlochry and Dunkeld attended a report of a shed on fire at Tigh-Na-Fhuaran on the Tummel Bridge road—only to discover it had spread to a nearby house.

The victim had been working in the shed, around 5 pm, when he became engulfed in flames after leaking petrol ignited.

The man ran to a nearby house, spreading the fire to the single storey, semi-detached cottage.

Two men who were in the vicinity rushed to his assistance where the man, who was in his 70s, was found to have sustained serious injuries.

An ambulance was summoned which then headed for a rendezvous site where the victim could be transferred to an air ambulance.

A trauma team had been mobilised and a helicopter dispatched from Inverness.

Once the transfer was completed, the man was then flown to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee for treatment to his burns.

Tragically, the man died sometime later.

The firefighters extinguished the fire in the shed and house and remained at the scene for several hours.

Divisional Officer Gordon McKenzie from Perth attended at the scene and praised the retained firefighters for their work as well as the prompt actions of the men who assisted the victim.

The scene of the fire is around 10 miles from Pitlochry in the Fincastle area, at the east end of Loch Tummel.

The cause of the fire will be further investigated.