A swather catching on fire in a field Saturday morning caused an estimated $250,000 in damage, Great Bend Fire Chief Mike Napolitano said.

Firefighters were dispatched to a fire one-eighth mile south of the Radium Road bridge and east at 11:46 a.m., after a call was made to 911. They arrived at 11:54 a.m. and found a large 2010 Krone swather owned by Pete Krier was totally involved in flames, along with several acres of stubble. "Additional units from Albert, Pawnee Rock and Stafford assisted," Napolitano said.

Krier told firefighters he was making a turn and noticed a code was being displayed by the onboard computer on the instrument panel. He then looked back and saw the back of the swather was on fire and that he had left a line of fire in the field.