A motorcycle driver died and a car driver was injured in a crash Friday in Lino Lakes, authorities said.

Just after 2:15 p.m., police and firefighters responded to a report of a crash at 20th Avenue and Rehbein Street. They found the motorcycle driver dead and the vehicle driver with noncritical injuries.

A grass fire broke out because of the crash, which emergency responders put out, police said. The names of those involved have not been released.

In another north metro crash involving a motorcycle, on Thursday, a cycle struck a combine crossing a street in North Branch, according to North Branch police.

The motorcycle's driver, James Gervais, 54, of North Branch, remained hospitalized in critical condition Friday at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. Motorcycle passenger Denise Ellingworth, 56, of Forest Lake, was in stable condition at Regions Hospital in St. Paul.

"Neither occupant was wearing a helmet and alcohol appears to be a factor," police said in a news release.

The combine operator wasn't injured and did not appear to have been impaired, police said.

Beena Raghavendran • 612-673-4569