Council officers have agreed to restore a listed building in Aberfeldy that was almost completely destroyed by fire earlier this year.
The property on Kenmore Street was engulfed in flames on Friday February 1 with residents of the flats and their pets lucky to escape with their lives.
Fire engines rushed to the scene of the blaze that raged for around three hours and destroyed the roof, the majority of the interior of the building, the doors and windows.
Perth and Kinross Council will now renovate the fire-damaged property and change it from a two apartment property in to one house.
The proposed restoration work and change of use have already been approved by council officers.
As the works will be carried out by the local authority and cost less than £250,000 planning permission is not required.
The listed building is situated within a conservation area of Aberfeldy and, according the council’s report, the rebuild will reflect this.
The report states: “The majority of the significance of this building lies in its exterior appearance, materials and its contribution to the group formed by buildings of the same period and appearance which make up this part of Kenmore Street.
“As such the proposed approach of reinstating the exterior of the building whilst using more modern materials to repair the interior is considered acceptable as it will preserve the special interest of the listed building.”
The fire in February is believed to have started in the kitchen of the upstairs flat with tenant Faye Moran describing how she awoke to a “wall of flames”.
Faye, 32, had been sleeping when she was disturbed by the smell of smoke at around 10.30pm.
Faye said: “When I got up it was warmer than usual and I went to the kitchen and there was a wall of flames coming up from behind the cooker.
“I tried to put it out first but the the heat was literally backing me out of the kitchen.
“When I went back on Saturday mainly I just remember looking up and seeing the sky.
“I thought maybe the firefighters would have been able to save it but it was completely gone.”
The tenant of the downstairs flat, Ian “Red” McDougall, 39, was out when fire took hold but rushed back to the house to pluck his pet cats Missy and Angel to safety.
Ian said: “When I came up the full roof was ablaze.
“The fire must have been burning for a while to be like that. I unlocked my door and went straight in.
“I was thinking about my cats. Everything else could be replaced but not them. It was a bit scary.”
