A 36-year-old driver of a paddy harvesting vehicle escaped unhurt after the vehicle caught fire when it came in contact with a live overhead high tension (HT) cable at Ariyapadi village near Arani town in Tiruvannamalai on Thursday (July 31, 2025).S. Kirubha (52) cultivated paddy in his 10-acre farmland in the village for the season. With sudden showers in recent weeks and fully grown standing crops, Kirubha decided to harvest paddy before it got inundated in the rain.Accordingly, Kirubha rented a paddy harvesting vehicle from B. Raman, who operated the vehicle. As Raman was driving the vehicle, the top portion of the vehicle touched a low-lying live cable, which triggered a fire. However, the driver did not notice this and continued driving the vehicle. The fire quickly spread to the entire vehicle. Farmers, who noticed this, drew the attention of the driver to the fire and he immediately jumped off the vehicle.In the impact, he suffered minor injuries. The locals alerted the fire and rescue services officials from Arani, who rushed to the scene and put out the flames. They battled for nearly an hour to bring the fire under control. A case was registered by Arani Taluk police. A probe is under way.Published - August 01, 2025 12:52 pm IST