This picture, showing smoke from the Lobster Creek Fire, was posted by the National Weather Service in Medford. Courtesy of the National Weather Service

The Lobster Creek Fire near Gold Beach began Sunday afternoon and has grown to more than 300 acres, the largest this year in Western Oregon.

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High winds have spurred the growth, and firefighters fear it will get larger.

"Fuels are a lot dryer than they should be this time of year so we’re looking at burning way more than it should be," said Mike Robinson, district manager of the Coos Forest Protective Association.

So far, the blaze is not threatening any homes or structures. It's burning in the upper reaches of the Lobster Creek, a tributary of the Rogue River, on private timberland and county land.

About 150 people, mostly on the ground fire teams, are fighting the fire. Investigators believe the fire is manmade.

The Lobster Creek Fire is just north of the site of the Chetco Bar Fire, which burned for weeks over almost 200,000 acres last year.

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