I crafted a fireplace with tree bark and a stick to cook a single piece of meat (or two, if the embers stayed long enough), because it was getting dark and I didn't want to have an open fire out in the open. After cooking the meat for 1/4 of the "cooking wheel" it stopped cooking and I couldn't cook it anymore. The fire then continued to stay lit, and has still maintained its full flame (and lighting effect) for the entire duration of night (about 1 hour).
After recognizing the bug I left the area to find a stove in a house nearby and noticed on a distant hilltop that someone had what looked like a bonfire built. I didn't investigate this, but there's a house over that way and I think the fire is showing without the house loading in from a distance. This makes cooking; even inside on a stove/fireplace (especially inside because no one thinks their fire can be seen from so far away), very dangerous at night, because others can see your fire from very far away.
After I was done cooking in a house I found I began heading back to where I had come from and the flame inside the house I was just at illuminated the surrounding area. This has happened to me before (I'm not sure if this is a bug only the player (myself) can see, or if all players [could] see this.
So, I made my way back and this is when I saw that my initial campfire was still burning bright and strong.

Sorry for the book report.
Thanks,

• Jim