NEWSOMS—A Sunday fire destroyed an $85,000 cotton picker.

The operator of the cotton picker owned by Scott Turner and Rodger Drake, both from Newsoms, hit an overhead power line off Barnes Church Circle, said Newsoms Fire Chief Larry Fowler. Sparks caught the cotton on fire in the picker’s basket. The fire spread to the machinery.

“When we got there, it (the fire) was fully involved,” Fowler said.

The unidentified operator was not hurt.

The cotton picker was insured, he said.

Boykins assisted with the fire, which rekindled Monday morning.

“Some of the cotton is so thick, it had smoldered and was smoking a bit,” Fowler said.