It took four fire crews just under three hours to bring the blaze under control at Rosebank Cottage.

The fire started in a bedroom. The alarm was raised about 3.45 am on Sunday and two appliances and an ambulance were on the scene within a few minutes.

As flames spread to the roof of the single-storey building, back-up was called from Montrose and Forfar plus support units from Dundee.

One occupant of the cottage suffered slight leg burns and was treated at the scene but the others, though shocked, were uninjured.

Volunteers from the Red Cross were also on hand to provide practical and emotional support to those affected by the fire.

Tayside Fire and Rescue group manager Andy Hermiston said the occupants probably owed their lives to the fire alarms they had installed in the building.

He said: "Two appliances from Brechin were mobilised and additional resources were requested by the incident commander. Three residents at the property when the fire broke out were outside when fire crews arrived.

"One resident suffered slight burns when he attempted to tackle the outbreak prior to the arrival of the fire and rescue service.

"All residents were alerted to the fire by smoke alarms installed in the property."

The fire is believed to have been started by an electric heating appliance.

"This further highlights the need to install smoke alarms in homes," he said.

"This fire might have had far more serious consequences had it not been for the smoke alarms. This allowed all family members to leave and allowed our personnel to fight the fire without the need for search and rescue operations."

He urged all householders who hadn't yet done so to take up Tayside Fire and Rescue's offer of a free home fire safety visit.

"This is carried out by local firefighters free of charge, and has the potential to save your life. Free smoke alarms are also fitted if required."