Massivewildfiresspread over approximately 150 acres inCalifornia, creating what is known as a "fire tornado."
A firefighter in Upstate has devastated more than 60,000 acres of his Klamath National Forest, killed four people and destroyed many buildings in the massive McKinney fire since it began 13 days ago. was already working on it.
But on Wednesday, about 200 firefighters were called in to a large blaze called Sam Fire in Los Angeles County.
News that Gorman visited the site of a large wildfire His helicopter captured footage of a rare "fire vortex" forming in the flames, which was released by KTLA5 station. rice field.
These fire tornadoes, also known as "fire demons," "represent dry, receptive fuel and erratic winds due to intense surface heating." ', said the County Fire Department's Aviation Operations Division.
In its latest update just before 10:00 pm local time, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said the blaze was contained on 150 acres and was at 60% containment.
"Crew will remain on site through the evening and into tomorrow to ensure all hotspots are extinguished," the fire department said.
There were no reports of damage to homes or injuries at the time of the update.
Fire tornado captured on film during Sam Fire
(KTLA5 screengrab)
Helicopters have been used to drop water on fire, and footage has been captured of this tactic being used in one of the fire vortexes.
These twister-like structures are created when hot air rises and enters vortices, collecting embers, smoke, and ash.
Fire demons are rare, but have been spotted more frequently in recent years as the climate emergency has made wildfires more frequent.
At least three were spotted in California in 2020, one of which caused theNational Weather Serviceto issue the first-ever fire tornado warning,NPR} reports.
These forest fires may be caused in part by potentially deficient land management techniques and an increase in the number of people living there, butA 2016 studyfound that over half of the acres burned in the western United States in recent decades could be attributed to climate disruption.
