A Monday afternoon fire proved costly to a local farmer, who lost equipment and crops to a blaze in his field on Old Smithville Hwy.

North Warren Fire Department (NWFD) was dispatched to a reported fire involving a tractor and a baler in a hay field Monday around 3 p.m., near the intersection of Old and New Smithville Hwy at property belonging to longtime nurseryman Derwood Stewart.

According to NWFD Chief Ramie Roberts, his department responded to the field behind 4847 Old Smithville Hwy., to find the 2019 Kubota tractor and 2017 hay baler completely engulfed, and portions of the hay field surrounding the equipment burning as well. The fire was believed to be caused by a bad bearing in the hay baler.

NWFD responded with an engine as well as a tanker truck, and members of the Centertown Volunteer Fire Department brought their own brush truck as backup to battle the blaze. Firefighters were able to save much of the hayfield, however the tractor and baler were a complete loss.