Elderly woman dies after tractor and baler catches fire in rural Alberta

An 88-year-old woman has died after the tractor and baler she was driving Sunday afternoon caught fire near Brooks, Alta.

Paramedics responded to a rural residence near Tilley, Alta., just after 3:30 p.m. where they found the woman with severe burns “to her entire body.”

“She was conversing with paramedics at the scene and also en route to the Brooks Health Centre, where [EMS] rendezvoused with STARS,” said an EMS spokesperson.

STARS transported the woman to Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary.

RCMP said Monday Mary-Jane Wickert died from her injuries. No one else was injured in the incident.

Fire crews told RCMP it appeared a part of the baler machine had caught fire. The incident is still under investigation.

Tilley is about 200 kilometres southeast of Calgary.