Firefighters in British Columbia, Canada, were captured on video getting a tug-of-war with a “firenado.”
The crews can be seen holding onto the hose before the fiery tornado grabs it.
The firenado formed during the Chutanli wildfire, throwing burning logs at firefighters for about 45 minutes, according to Mar Lowsky, the firefighter who posted the clip. Then, the twister pulled their hose 100 feet into the air.
When they got the hose back, according to the firefighter, it was melted. She said it was about 200 feet high. “Fire tornado destroyed our line. It threw burning logs across our guard for 45 minutes and pulled our hose 100 plus ft in the air before melting it. That’s definitely a first,” Lowsky said.
Known also as a fire whirl or fire devil, the firenado is a whirlwind caused by fire and made of ash or flame. “A fire tornado isn’t really a tornado at all. A true tornado is formed when three key elements collide: warm, moist air close to the ground; atmospheric instability, a condition that promotes the vertical movement of air; and clashing air fronts that act to propel moist air upward,” according to LiveScience.
But a firenado, it adds, are created by hot and dry air that rises quickly from the ground.
They can be deadly.
Reports in August said that a 37-year-old firefighter, Jeremiah Stoke, was killed on July 26 when he was driving in Redding to evacuate residents from the Carr Fire. The base of the fire tornado was about 1,000 feet, according to CBS San Francisco, which added that the winds were 136 mph to 165 mph.
