PRICHARD, Ala. (AP)  Prichard officials say three city police cars are a total loss after they caught fire in a dry, grassy field.

City spokeswoman Latoya Veal says the fire followed a police chase of a stolen SUV, which she says also burned when the fire broke out Tuesday night.

Veal says a hot catalytic converter may have ignited grass in the field behind the former Blount High School campus.

Police were pursuing the vehicle, which Veal says had been reported stolen in Mobile. She says fire broke out immediately when the vehicles stopped in the field, and the driver of the SUV escaped on foot.

Prichard Mayor Ron Davis says the three cars are not among five new police cars the city recently purchased.