Do you know what a fire whirl is?  

You must have heard of tornadoes or twisters, right? These vertical columns of rapidly spinning air that can travel at a speed of 400 kms per hours, occur in almost all corners of the world destroying habitats, ruining lives. But have you ever heard of fire whirls? These are unlike anything you might have seen. Fire whirls are strange atmospheric phenomena composed of fire, air and ash. Are you wondering how they are made? Read on to know more.  

The making of a fire whirl  
As the name suggests, fire whirls are large flames trapped in solid whirlwinds. These can be extremely dangerous and erratic in nature. Fire whirls have a burning core and rotating pockets of air surrounding them. Their temperatures can go up to 1,090 °C. Usually, fire whirls are 10 – 50 m tall and several feet wide. Thankfully, they last for just a few minutes. But in some cases, they can be as high as 1 kilometre tall and last more than 20 minutes. 

Fire whirls occur when a wildfire or firestorm starts creating its own wind. They can also form from a volcanic eruption. Typical wind speeds can be about 200 km/hour. Can you imagine a giant fire whirl chasing someone with that speed? Crazy, isn’t it? Luckily, they are rare and occur only in areas that are prone to wildfires.  

The phenomenon of a fire whirl was verified in 2003 in the Canberra bushfires for the first time. It has thereafter been seen again in a 2018 Carr Fire, California and 2020 Loyalton Fire, California and Nevada.   

Fire tornado vs. Fire whirl  
Though often used interchangeably, they are different. In fact, most fire whirls do not meet the criteria of fire tornadoes. However, some of them may turn into fire tornadoes. A fire tornado, on the other hand, creates a vortex of rising air and smoke stretching from the clouds above it.  

When wildfires become fire whirls 
Because of worsening climate conditions, forests all across the world are now experiencing more and more wildfires. Whenever these wildfires become too widespread, they can create their own local weather conditions. This weather can include big funnels of flame and smoke, which can become fire whirls. So, the places prone to wildfires have higher chances of encountering a fire swirl. Interestingly, a fire whirl can also trigger a wildfire. In fact, it can help identify wildfires as it can throw up burning tree barks high in the sky.