A firefighter in southeastern Utah captured shocking footage of a “firenado” forming in La Sal during the Deer Creek wildfires that are currently going on at the moment. So far, the flames have consumed over 10,000 acres, though the cause is still currently under investigation by authorities. Fortunately, no one has been injured, at the time of writing, but firefighters are still battling the blaze.
The clip comes by way of NBC News and takes place on July 12, in La Sal, near the Colorado-Utah border. In it, we see a huge, swirling plume of smoke rising into the air, and at the base of the fiery tornado, we can see embers and flames. Surrounding the blazing inferno is a forest, along with fields of grass. The first caption reads, “Video shows a ‘firenado’ forming during Utah wildfire“, while the second adds the context, “The Deer Creek Fire has consumed more than 10,000 acres“.
According to CBS News, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis issued a disaster declaration on Sunday regarding the wildfires. Per a statement from a spokesperson from the Governor’s office, “With the disaster declaration, the State Emergency Operations and Resource Mobilization Plans are activated and the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM) coordinates the state response through management of the State Emergency Operations Center and deployment of field operations staff to directly support county emergency managers with consequence management“.
Furthermore, according to the spokesperson, the fires likely originated from one weather event: they were possibly caused by lightning, though it’s still currently under investigation. Due to the “mountainous terrain”, however, it’s making putting out the fires “very tough” for firefighters.
The video has sparked plenty of conversation online from social media users. On Reddit, one user joked, “i’d take fire over sharks though” referencing the popular b-movie Sharknado, while another weighed in, writing, “If tornadoes aren’t terrifying enough…. New level unlocked.” Elsewhere, another user chimed in, penning, “I guess they didn’t rake the ground good enough.”
While this phenomenon is uncommon, the most recent other documented fire tornado (aka “firenado”) in the U.S. occurred during the Palisades Fire in California earlier this year in January.
