A surging wildfire ripping through eastern Utah wilderness over the weekend triggered a rare “firenado”, unleashing a terrifying mix of wind and flames that left one home and several other outbuildings severely damaged.
The Deer Creek Fire had already burned several thousand acres just north of La Sal on Saturday when the column of flames and hot gases began spinning, creating the surreal sight of a firenado.
“One of our firefighters captured this unusual phenomenon of a fire vortex tearing through pinyon-juniper woodland on the Deer Creek Fire, just outside of La Sal,” said officials with the Utah Bureau of Land Management.
The firenado did significant damage as it wreaked havoc on a neighborhood caught in the blaze. The National Weather Service estimated that wind speeds inside the twister reached 122 mph – strong enough to rate an EF-2 on the Enhanced Fujita scale.
What’s worse, instead of typical tornadoes that may only spend moments to seconds blasting a neighborhood as the storm blows through, this firenado was nearly stationary, spending 12 minutes swirling its flame-infused fury.
“Dwellings and outbuildings in the area sustained a mix of fire and wind damage,” said NWS meteorologists in Grand Junction, Colorado, who later surveyed the damage. “Many of the affected structures burned after the tornado occurred, but wind damage sustained by the remaining structures resulted in the tornado being given an EF-2 rating.”
Luckily, residents had already evacuated with the approaching wildfire and no one was injured, NWS officials said.
Fire whirls or “firenados” are spinning columns of hot air and gases rising up from a fire, according to the National Wildfire Coordinating Group. When the air and gases rise, they also carry up smoke, debris, and even fire, as seen in the vortex of fire in the video.
The vortices can be as small as under one foot wide to over 500 feet wide, the NWCG said. Fire whirls on the larger side can be as strong as a tornado, as evidenced on Saturday.
One of the largest and most destructive fire whirls occurred in 2018 during the Carr Fire in Redding, California, the National Weather Service said. It had wind speeds of about 143 mph, equivalent to those found in EF-3 tornadoes.
Tornadoes in any form, be it thunderstorm or wildfire-driven, are rare in Utah.
The firenado was only the second twister to be given an EF-2 rating in Utah since the Enhanced Fujita scale was implemented in 2007. Prior to that, only nine other tornadoes had been rated at least an F2 on the original Fujita Scale since 1950.
Meanwhile, firefighters are still battling the Deer Creek Fire, which had burned more than 15,600 acres as of Thursday morning’s update. The blaze is about 7% contained. It’s one of eight large wildfires burning in Utah that have scorched over 60,000 acres so far this summer.
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