Firefighters in British Columbia continue to battle hundreds of wildfires devastating the Canadian province, and officials shared video of a “fire tornado” that formed last week during extreme weather conditions.
Also known as a “fire whirl,” officials say the event is an “incredibly rare phenomenon.” It was spotted on August 17 as fire personnel responded to the Downton Lake wildfire at Gun Lake, BC Wildfire Service said Tuesday.
“The combination of high fire intensity, strong winds and air mass instability resulted in the formation of a fire whirl (otherwise known as a fire tornado) over Gun Lake,” fire officials said. “These fire whirls are vertically oriented, intensely rotating columns of gas and flame.”