Burning Bridges in the Year of the Fire Rooster?

On Friday the 1st of December I went and saw the movie 'Only the Brave' at the cinema.
It starred Jeff Bridges as Duane Steinbrink and Josh Brolin as Eric Marsh.

The last movie Bridges and Brolin starred together was in 'True Grit', where Bridges played Rooster Cogburn.

Jeff Bridges also played another character named Duane near the start of Jeff's movie career in a movie called 'The Last Picture Show'.

Jeff Bridges as Duane Jackson

"The Yarnell Hill Fire was a wildfire near Yarnell, Arizona, ignited by lightning on June 28, 2013.
On June 30, it overran and killed 19 City of Prescott firefighters, members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots.
It was the third deadliest U.S. wildfire since the 1991 East Bay Hills fire, which killed 25 people; and the 2017 Northern California wildfires, which killed over 40, the deadliest wildland fire for U.S. firefighters since the 1933 Griffith Park Fire, which killed 29; and the deadliest incident of any kind for U.S. firefighters since the September 11, 2001, attacks, which killed 343.
It is the sixth-deadliest American firefighter disaster overall and the deadliest wildfire ever in Arizona."

The release date for 'Only the Brave' in the USA was 20 October 2017 and until that month The Yarnell Hill Fire was the second deadliest U.S. wildfire since the 1991 East Bay Hills fire, which killed 25 people, until the 2017 Northern California wildfires killed 44 people.

Jeffrey Leon Bridges was born on December 4, 1949 in Los Angeles, California, USA and on December 4th the current fires burning now in California started.

The apparition from the movie 'Only the Brave'.
 Smokey the bear? 

The Yarnell Hill Fire was ignited by
  lightning on June 28, 2013

The release date for 'Only the Brave' in Australia was November 30th, 2017.

The movie starts off pretty much with AC/DC's 'It's a Long Way to the Top', which was written by Malcolm Young (as Malcolm Mitchell Young), Angus Young (as Angus McKinnon Young) and Bon Scott (as Ronald Belford Scott) and performed by AC/DC.

Malcolm Young would pass away before the film was released in Australian cinemas, so it wasn't lost on me when seeing the movie on December 1st that here was not only a film dedicated to the lives of the brave firefighters who lost their lives in 2013, but in a strange twist of fate paid homage to Malcolm who would lose his battle with Alzheimer's disease in 2017.
"Malcolm Young died on 18 November 2017 at the age of 64, at Lulworth House in Elizabeth Bay.
His funeral was held at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney on 28 November.
Young's elder brother George Young died a few weeks before him, on 22 October 2017."

But what really got to me on a personal note about the film's soundtrack was Steve Earle's 'Copperhead Road' being on it.

While AC/DC's 'It's a Long Way to the Top' is like an alternative national anthem in Australia and most Aussies like the song and the band, including me, I have never actually owned any AC/DC music or seen them play live, but I have seen Steve Earle play 'Copperhead Road' live three times in my life now.

And on the subject of "ghost riders in the sky" as Jeff Bridges sings about in 'Only the Brave', I listened to a podcast featuring the AC/DC song 'It's a Long Way to the Top' during the week which was hosted by Richard Fidler who is also the author of a brilliant book titled 'Ghost Empire'.

Exploring Byzantium, the World of Ghost Empire

Richard hosts the 'Conversations'
radio show linked below

Wild and full of longing: Australia's definitive pop anthems

I even met Steve Earle and talked to him in 2016 when he was signing a CD of his for me -

Good Friday at Bluesfest 2016

Steve Earle signing CDs at Bluesfest 2016

'Only the Brave' is a great tribute film to more than just the firefighters who lost their lives in the fire it turns out and makes you grateful for the people who put their lives on the line to save others in the line of nature's fury.

And if old rockers never die, then who really does?

UPDATE: 16th December, 2017

California fires: Fireman dies fighting blaze as hundreds of homes burn

The mammoth Thomas fire has been burning since December 4 and has destroyed more than 400 homes.

UPDATE: 17th of December, 2017

Beast?!

The apparition from the movie 'Only the Brave'. 
Smokey the bear?