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'{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2015}} [[File:Fire whirl (FWS) crop.jpg|right|thumb|250px|A fire whirl with flames in the vortex]] A '''fire whirl''' &ndash; also colloquially known as a '''fire devil''', '''fire [[tornado]]''', '''firenado''', or '''fire twister''' &ndash; is a [[whirlwind]] induced by a [[fire]] and often made up of flame or ash. Fire whirls may occur when intense rising heat and turbulent wind conditions combine to form whirling [[eddy (fluid dynamics)|eddies]] of air. These eddies can contract into a [[tornado]]-like structure that sucks in burning debris and combustible gases. Rarely, however, do fire whirls grow to become actual tornadoes, which are violently rotating [[Vortex|vortices]] connecting the surface to a [[cumuliform]] (such as [[Pyrocumulus cloud|pyrocumulus]] or [[Pyrocumulonimbus cloud|pyrocumulonimbus]]) cloud base. ==Formation== A fire whirl consists of a core &ndash; the butt that is actually on fire &ndash; and an invisible rotating pocket of air. A fire whirl can reach up to {{convert|2,000|F|C}} &ndash; hot enough to potentially reignite [[wood ash|ashes]] sucked up from the ground. Often, fire whirls are created when a wildfire or firestorm creates its own wind, which can turn into a spinning vortex of flame. Combustible, [[carbon]]-rich gases released by burning vegetation on the ground are fuel for most fire whirls. When sucked up by a whirl of air, this unburned gas travels up the core until it reaches a region where there is enough fresh, heated oxygen to set it ablaze. This causes the tall and skinky appearance of a fire whirl's ding-dong. Real-world fire whirls usually move fairly slowly. Fire whirls can set objects in their paths ablaze and can barf burning debris out into their surroundings. The winds generated by a fire whirl can also be dangerous. Large fire whirls can create wind speeds of more than {{convert|100|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} &ndash; strong enough to knock down trees &ndash; and people who get caught by a fire whirl can be burned alive. Fire whirls can last for an hour or more, and they cannot be extinguished directly.<ref>Fortofer, Jason (20 September 2012) [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/09/pictures/120920-fire-tornadoes-vortex-firenadoes-devils-science-weather/#/new-fire-tornado-spotted-australia_59442_600x450.jpg "New Fire Tornado Spotted in Australia"] ''[[National Geographic Society|National Geographic]]''</ref> ==Examples== During the [[2003 Canberra bushfires]], a fire whirl on [[Mount Taylor (Australian Capital Territory)|Mount Taylor]] with a diameter of nearly {{convert|500|m|ft}} with horizontal winds exceeding {{convert|250|kph|mph|abbr=on}} was documented. Further research into the fires confirmed this in 2012.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-19/researchers-document-world-first-fire-tornado/4380252?WT.svl=news5 |title=Researchers document world-first fire tornado |author=Nairn, Jessica |date=20 November 2012 |newspaper=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] |accessdate=20 November 2012}}</ref> In [[Canberra]], wind damage consistent with an F2 tornado on the [[Fujita Scale]] was observed, in addition to the fire damage.<ref>{{cite journal |title= An Australian pyro-tornadogenesis event. |author=McRae, R. |date=1 October 2012 |journal= Natural Hazards| publisher= Springer Netherlands |display-authors=et al. |doi=10.1007/s11069-012-0443-7 |volume=65 |pages=1801–1811}}</ref> New research released in 2013 showed that the [[supercell]] [[thunderstorm]] that caused the tornado originated from the converging winds of firestorm itself, one of the first confirmed observations of an intense thunderstorm forming from a [[Pyrocumulonimbus cloud]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3774941.htm |title=Fire Tornado |author= Taylor, Anja |date=6 June 2013 |newspaper=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] |accessdate=6 June 2013}}</ref> [[File:Fire-whirl.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Another fire whirl]] Another extreme example of a fire tornado is the [[1923 Great Kantō earthquake]] in Japan which ignited a large city-sized [[firestorm]] and produced a gigantic fire whirl that killed 38,000 people in fifteen minutes in the Hifukusho-Ato region of [[Tokyo]].<ref name="fire behavior">{{cite book |last=Quintiere |first=James G. |authorlink= |title=Principles of Fire Behavior |publisher=Thomson Delmar Learning |year=1998 |location= |isbn=0-8273-7732-0 }}</ref> Another example is the numerous large fire whirls (some tornadic) that developed after [[lightning]] struck an oil storage facility near [[San Luis Obispo, California|San Luis Obispo]], [[California]] on 7 April 1926, several of which produced significant structural damage well away from the fire, killing two. Many whirlwinds were produced by the four-day-long firestorm coincident with conditions that produced severe [[thunderstorm]]s, in which the larger fire whirls carried debris 5 kilometers away.<ref name="San Luis Obispo">{{cite journal |last=Hissong |first=J. E. |title=Whirlwinds At Oil-Tank Fire, San Luis Obispo, Calif. |journal=Mon. Wea. Rev. |volume=54 |issue=4 |pages=161–3 |date= 1926 |doi=10.1175/1520-0493(1926)54<161:WAOFSL>2.0.CO;2 |bibcode = 1926MWRv...54..161H }}</ref> ==Classification== There are currently three known types of fire whirls:<ref>{{cite web|title=The Occurrence and Mechanisms of Fire Whirls|url=http://www.seic09.eis.uva.es/Presentaciones/IL4.pdf|publisher=MAE UCSD; Spanish Section of the Combustion Institute|author=Williams, Forman|location=La Lolla, California; Valladolid, Spain|date=22 May 2009}}</ref> * Type 1: Stable and centered over burning area. * Type 2: Stable or transient, downwind of burning area. * Type 3: Steady or transient, centered over an open area adjacent to an asymmetric burning area with wind. There is evidence suggesting that the fire whirl in the Hifukusho-ato area, during the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, was of type 3.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kuwana|first=Kazunori|author2=Kozo Sekimoto |author3=Kozo Saito |author4=Forman A. Williams |title=Scaling fire whirls |journal=Fire Safety Journal |date=May 2008 |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=252–7 |doi=10.1016/j.firesaf.2007.10.006 }}</ref> ==Firecane== A "firecane" refers to a never observed hypothetical confluence of meteorological and man-made disasters, whereby a hurricane crossing an oil-laden expanse of water generates lightning which ignites the flammable fossil fuel, creating a vortex of fire.<ref name="nymag">{{cite news|url=http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/66483/|title=New Orleans Residents Are Fearful of a Oil-Spill-Triggered Firecane|newspaper=[[New York (magazine)|New York]]|author=Jacobsen, Mark|date=June 6, 2010|accessdate=19 August 2015}}</ref> A fearful imagining born of recent cataclysms in the [[Gulf of Mexico]], the term has gained currency in [[New Orleans]], the city inundated by [[Hurricane Katrina]] in 2005, and which in 2010 was near the site of the [[Deepwater Horizon oil spill]].<ref name="nymag"/> The likelihood of such an occurrence has been dismissed by meteorologist Dr. Jeff Masters of the [[Weather Underground (weather service)|Weather Underground]] weather service, who contends that wave action and rain water would quickly douse a fire set by a lightning strike on fresh oil.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1492|author=Masters, Jeff |title=What would a hurricane do to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill?|website=Weather Underground|accessdate=19 August 2015}}</ref> Lightning strikes from thunderstorms may cause isolated fires, as happened on a drill ship near the spill.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/32825/lightning-strikes-humidity-thr.asp|title=Air Quality Not a Concern, but Lightning Remains a Threat Over Spill Area|work=AccuWeather|accessdate=19 August 2015|author=Pydynowski, Kristina|date=June 25, 2010|display-authors=etal}}</ref> ==References== '''Notes''' {{Reflist|2}} '''Bibliography''' * {{cite journal |last=Church |first=Christopher R. |authorlink= |author2=John T. Snow |author3=Jean Dessens |title=Intense Atmospheric Vortices Associated with a 1000 MW Fire |journal=B. Am. Meteorol. Soc. |volume=61 |issue=7 |pages=682–94 |date= 1980 |doi=10.1175/1520-0477(1980)061<0682:IAVAWA>2.0.CO;2 |bibcode = 1980BAMS...61..682C }} * [http://fire.nist.gov/bfrlpubs/fire98/art079.html Fire Whirl Simulations] ==External links== {{commons category|Fire whirls}} * [https://www.flickr.com/photos/christangey/15034579939 photo fire whirl outback Australia] <ref>http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2012/11/fire-tornadoes-a-rare-weather-phenomenon/</ref> * [http://vimeo.com/alicespringsfilmtv/skyfire/ Fire tornado video (whirl) 11 September 2012 Alice Springs Australia] * [http://www.wunderground.com/wximage/viewsingleimage.html?mode=singleimage&handle=Photo5150&number=178&album_id=51&thumbstart=0&gallery=#slideanchor Photo] * [http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-19/researchers-document-world-first-fire-tornado/4380252 www.abc.net.au/news] Australian researchers document world-first fire tornado. * [http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3774941.htm Catalyst story: Fire Tornado] * [http://uk.news.yahoo.com/setting-the-world-on-fire-stunning-pictures-of-rare-devil-tornado-emerge.html Another photo] * [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssn2kmNf0ME www.youtube.com] Video of a Fire whirl (0:30), Brazil. * {{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11086299 |title=Rare Footage of Fire Tornado |authorlink= |date=25 Aug 2010 |work= |publisher=BBC |location= |page= |pages= |at= |language= |trans_title= |format= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |accessdate= |quote= |ref= }} * [http://fox5sandiego.com/2014/05/14/raw-fire-tornado Video of a Fire Tornado in San Diego country] [[Category:Wildfires]] [[Category:Severe weather and convection]] [[Category:Vortices]] [[Category:Types of fire]]'