The driver of a fuel tanker which burst into flames on the M90 attempted to tackle the fire himself before emergency services arrived.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was called to the Craigend junction of the busy motorway shortly after 6.30am on Thursday.
They were able to contain the fire within the vehicle’s cabin, preventing flammable petrol and diesel from potentially spilling across the carriageway.
The fire caused traffic chaos asdrivers were diverted through Perth city centre, as the northbound carriageway was closed for more than four hours.
Four fire service units three from Perth and one from Newburgh rushed to the scene, along with a command unit and foam salvage tender from Dundee.
Perth Fire Station manager Stephen Wood praised the tanker driver for his quick actions.
“The tanker driver managed to get it on to the hard shoulder,” he said.“He also got it past the junction.
“If he’d been further back you would have had all the traffic backed up, which would have made it really difficult for us to get up to it.
“He will have been well trained and would have had an emergency plan, which he appears to have followed pretty well.
“They also carry extinguishers and I’m assuming it was him that discharged the initial extinguisher into the fire, but certainly the on-board extinguisher was used. It certainly helped.”
Fire crews reached the stricken tanker within nine minutes of receiving the emergency call, which Mr Wood said was crucial in preventing the blaze from escalating.
He said: “The cab was totally burnt out.The priority is to do a quick attack on it, which the crews did this morning to good effect.
“It took nine minutes to get on scene and within a couple of minutes they had water on it, which prevented it from becoming far worse.”
A spokesman for BP, which owns the tanker, said: “Our driver followed all his training and we’re pleased he was able to safely help minimise disruption.
“We are also grateful for the fast, effective response and coordination from the emergency services.”