Fire whirls are typically found in wildfires, especially large and intense ones. In fact, California reported similar fire whirls from the Carr Fire in 2018 and the Loyalton Fire in 2020.

Swain said whirls are far more common and happen during most large wildfires. They're also much less dangerous than full-fledged fire tornadoes, which can leave a trail of destruction in their wake.

Emmons, Gordon McKay Professor of Mechanical Engineering, is the first large scale research on fire whirls. Eventually such research may help fire fighters to eliminate the threat of fire storms ...