Reflections on a Wildfire

A grassfire blazes in northeast Oklahoma.  Ash falls to the earth like snow.  Smoke can be seen on the horizon.  What little bit of sunlight manages to pierce through the smoke obscures the area in an eerie orange haze.  The wind carries just a little extra heat and brings a faint smell of dry grass burning.  It's difficult to accurately gauge how close it is.  Or even which way the flames are moving.  People from nearby towns look out their windows and gaze toward the cloud of smoke.  There's an ominous knot in the stomachs of some of them as they feel the fire crawling their way.  Destruction in its most primal and ferocious state.  Fire is natures great destroyer.  For thousands of years, mankind has tried, with little success, to master its power.  But it refuses to be tamed.

Just how did this incarnation of the Great Destroyer come into being on this August afternoon?  Was it gross negligence, a bizarre accident, or worse, malicious arson?