The answer to the question of whether a fire tornado can happen is yes, but the phenomenon is more accurately termed a “fire whirl” or, in its most powerful form, a “fire devil.” These rotating columns of fire and hot gas visually resemble a tornado, drawing flames, smoke, and debris high into the atmosphere. They form when the intense heat from a wildfire or large conflagration combines with specific atmospheric and surface conditions, creating a fiery vortex that increases the fire’s intensity and spread.
Fire Whirls Versus True Tornadoes
The primary distinction between a fire whirl and a true meteorological tornado lies in the source of the rotational energy and their atmospheric origin. A true tornado is a “top-down” phenomenon, generated from powerful supercell thunderstorms that form high in the atmosphere, often involving a rotating updraft known as a mesocyclone. This rotation descends from the cloud base, driven by large-scale atmospheric instability and wind shear.
Conversely, a fire whirl is a “bottom-up” event, originating at the ground level and driven by localized heat and convection from the fire itself. The energy source is thermal, not atmospheric; the fire creates a column of buoyant, hot air that rises rapidly. This column acts like a chimney, pulling in surrounding air and any existing rotational movement near the surface. Fire whirls are not classified as true tornadoes because their vortex rarely extends from the ground to the cloud base and is not driven by a storm system aloft.
The Mechanics of Fire Vortex Formation
The formation of a fire vortex requires the confluence of three specific conditions: an intense heat source, a strong vertical lift, and a mechanism to introduce rotation. The intense heat generated by a large fire creates a plume of superheated air that is less dense than the surrounding cooler air. This difference in density causes the hot air to surge upward in a convection current, creating a localized low-pressure zone at the base of the fire.
This rapid, vertical movement of air is the updraft, which acts as a concentrating mechanism for any existing rotation. The initial rotation, or vorticity, is often introduced by surface disturbances like localized crosswinds, wind shear caused by uneven terrain, or air channeling around obstacles. As the rapidly rising column of air draws in the surrounding air, it pulls the existing horizontal spin into a tighter, vertical axis.
This process is similar to how a figure skater increases their spin speed by pulling their arms inward. As the air column narrows and stretches vertically, its rotational velocity significantly increases, concentrating the spin and intensifying the vortex. This self-sustaining rotation pulls more oxygen into the fire’s core, increasing the combustion rate and making the whirl burn hotter and brighter.
Scale and Destructive Power
Fire whirls vary widely in size, ranging from small, short-lived “fire devils” only a meter wide to massive, powerful vortices that dominate the fire environment. The smaller, weaker whirls are common and transient, often lasting only a few seconds near a large bonfire or prescribed burn. However, under extreme wildfire conditions, especially those generating a massive pyrocumulonimbus cloud (pyroCb), a fire whirl can evolve into a tornadic-scale event.
These larger vortices can reach over a kilometer in height and feature wind speeds that rival weak to moderate tornadoes, sometimes exceeding 100 miles per hour. The internal temperatures within the core of a large fire whirl are extreme, often soaring to over 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The combination of high winds and intense heat allows these vortices to loft heavy debris and propel burning embers great distances, rapidly spreading the fire through a phenomenon known as spotting.
A rare but documented example of this extreme power occurred during the 2018 Carr Fire in California, which produced a vortex officially classified as a fire tornado with estimated wind speeds of 143 mph, equivalent to an EF-3 rating on the Enhanced Fujita scale. Such intense events demonstrate that while most fire whirls are smaller, the largest can become a devastating force, capable of causing destruction similar to that of a conventional tornado.