WATCH: Fire Tornado Captured in Rare Video
Jan. 25, 2017 - It’s a fire. It’s a tornado. It’s a firenado! Fire tornadoes, also known as fire whirls, fire devils, or even firenados, are a common occurrence, but because they typically only last for a few minutes, they’re rarely captured on video. This footage of a 3,000-foot-high fire tornado was captured in Western Australia by the Department of Parks and Wildlife.
Learn more about fire tornadoes and how they happen.
This is a fire whirl, a common phenomenon during bush fires.
Watheroo, Western Australia
This footage is real-time, not sped up.
Energy from the fire causes columns of hot air to rise into the the atmosphere.
Wind fanning the fire causes the columns to twist at speeds of up to 99 mph.
As it moves away from the fire and loses energy, it grows in diameter, but slows in speed.
Fire whirls can pose a danger to firefighters due to their unpredictability.
