An Osborne County farmer has died of injuries suffered in a large hay bale fire Thursday night.

Osborne County Sheriff Curt Miner told Hays Post, “Lowell Lund, age 82 of rural Waldo, died from severe burns at a Wichita hospital.  Lund and his son had been hauling bales all day when something started the fire.

Firefighters from Paradise, Waldo, Natoma, Alton, Luray, and Osborne County Rural Fire arrived at the scene in southwest Osborne County about six p.m. Thursday.

Natoma Fire Chief Keith Koelling said many of the 300 bales were already fully engulfed.

The fire continued burning into early Friday morning. “Firefighters burned around the bales, in a controlled burn,” said Miner. “They also dug a ditch and placed the bales there to control the blaze.”

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

(Photos courtesy Russell County Emergency Manager Keith Haberer)