Wild fire - nothing new in the West

One of several helicopters dipping their buckets into the Rogue River collecting water to dump on the fire.

Wild fires are part of living in the West. Every 10 years or so, we watch one from our backyard. It is usually on a southwest-facing hillside called Tin Pan Peak just outside of Rogue River and a mile or so from us. Late this afternoon, several small fires erupted along the Rogue River and also on the Tin Pan Peak crest. Maybe arson? They blew up and converged and by early evening were thought to have burned at least 200 acres. That's small, as wild fires go. Just a few minutes ago, I took this photo as the fire had "laid down" for the night.

The fire tonight, as seen from the back porch.

The fire crews will no doubt subdue it tomorrow. But still. Even though this was probably a human-caused blaze (most are lightening-caused) and won't likely result in loss of homes of lives, it is humbling to watch a fire blow up.  We've never worried about fire at our house, except, of course, for that one time shortly after we relocated to Grants Pass for four years for Chris to attend high school and we had renters at our home, and the wood stove caused a fire that almost burned the place down. Local fire fighters saved the day and the house, and the fire just caused $30,000 damage  and displaced our renters for three months.
Well, maybe we do worry about fire.
More fire pics.