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Flames from the California wildfires are so high they are creating their own weather – including FIRENADOS with winds so strong they can ‘flip cars like toys’
The wildfire tearing through northern California is so hot it’s formed its own weather system, with strong winds creating a phenomenon known as ‘firenados’.
Stunning images show smoke from the Carr Fire standing up in a giant column above Shasta County as it rages on for the sixth day in a row, leaving two firefighters dead and destroying 500 homes, as officials warned another 5,000 properties are still threatened.
On top of the blaze itself, people in the area now have to look out for firenados as well, which occur when high temperatures drive the air upward, creating gusts of wind in three directions and advancing the fire’s spread.
The firenado winds are so strong they can flip cars ‘like toys, according to fire service spokesman Scott McLean.
The fire began on Monday with a mechanical failure of a vehicle and grew completely out of control on Thursday, tearing through two small communities and reaching the city of Redding.
Tens of thousands of people fled the city in fear of their lives from the blaze.
In the small northern California community of Keswick, only a handful of homes remain.
On Saturday morning, some 3,400 firefighters on the ground and in helicopters continued to battle the 48,300-acre fire as it ripped through the Redding, while blazes continued to rage elsewhere in the state.
At the height of the blaze on Thursday a firenado sent large, fiery chunks of debris into the air, landing on buildings, homes and trees.
A Minute to Midnite Administration
A Minute To Midnite Show HostSame in Greece, they just had some “firenados” blowing over the countryside with 120km/h (75 mph). You can even see them from space
“Fanned by gale-force winds that frequently changed direction, the flames spread rapidly into populated seaside towns — too fast for many who were in their cars or homes to flee, fire department spokeswoman Stavroula Malliri said. The Greek fire brigade said the death toll has risen to 74 as of Tuesday.
[…] They had tried to find an escape route but unfortunately these people and their kids didn’t make it in time. Instinctively, seeing the end nearing, they embraced,” Nikos Economopoulos, the head of Greece’s Red Cross, told Skai TV. The group was found near several burned out cars close to a walled compound, also gutted by the fire.” [via Foxnews]
I guess you have to be quick on your feet like in the case of water tsunamis – although you have to run in the opposite direction. The lucky ones escaped to the beaches in time, like this dog who saved itself to a rock in the sea
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