Fire Whirls
By- Sara Mitchell
A fire whirl, also known as a fire tornado or fire devil, is a rare phenomenon in which fire forms a tornado-like vortex of flames. Fire whirls can be formed in one of two ways: when a tornado spins too closely to a forest fire or when a heavy concentration of heat is generated in a small area. Typically, they're spawned from wildfires. Like tornadoes, fire whirls vary in size and duration; however, they typically last no more than a few minutes.
Although Fire whirls are not that big, they are a very dangerous and serious phenomenon. In Japan during the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923, a firenado killed over 38,000 people, in a time span of less than 20 minutes. Firenado's can reach up to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and spread across wide areas.