Hood River Sept 2012 what is this light

After my kids go to bed, my partner and myself often sit on our porch at night to relax from the busy day. We sat down  last night and I noticed a bright flickering light in the north sky. I thought it was a star and pointed it out to my partner.  But then the flickering light started moving in a strange way. It went straight up and down very quickly.  It went in circles, then it moved sideways. We watched this for over an hour with binoculars.  I tried to film it but my camera could not reach that far in the dark. The light would stand still for a few minutes and then start moving again.  Through the binoculars that light looked red and green, and spiky (almost in the shape of an arrow).  Sometimes the light would get brighter, and sometimes point the other direction.  At times I noticed a haze coming off the light. The light was hoovering over a fire in the hills of White Salmon that recently burned and is still burning in BZ Corners.  Could this maybe be a plane! that is checking the area for hot spots with infra red? But then how does a plane make those radical movements?   I have never seen anything like it, I wonder what it was.
There were a few little airplanes in the same airspace, but this did not 'scare' the light away. I wonder if the airplanes saw the light too?
Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides little contact information.  PD