Wild winds near the Dungeness Spit helped engulf a tractor in flames Thursday morning.

Clallam County Fire District 3 responded to a call at Voice of America Road at about 11:15 a.m. and encountered a county park front-end loader tractor half-covered in flames.

According to District 3 personnel, the tractor was being operated by a parks employee when the controlled burn he was working on flared up in gusty winds. The tractor experienced a mechanical failure, leaving it and the operator in the large flames produced by the winds. 

The operator abandoned the tractor and moved to safety. He was evaluated after noticing some singed hair but was not treated or transported. 

The fire was quickly extinguished, fire district officials said, and was contained to the burn pile and the tractor.