A B.C. Wildfire Service firefighter has posted a video online of crews fighting a fire tornado as it grabs one of their hoses.
The user called mar.lowsky says the fire swirl was over 200 feet tall.
“Fire tornado destroyed our line. It threw burning logs across our guard for 45 minutes and pulled our hose 100 plus ft in the air before melting it. That’s definitely a first.”
B.C.’s Chief Fire Information Officer Kevin Skrepnek confirms the video is real and was captured by firefighters battling the Chutanli Lake wildfire in the Prince George Fire Centre.
“These do happen but fairly rarely, and this a very dramatic example. I’ve only ever seen from an aircraft.”
At last update the Chutlani Lake wildfire was 95% contained and had been taken off the wildfire of note list.
As per chat with @AngeloCHNL - it is real, taken in mid-August on the Chutanli #BCwildfire. The PG Fire Centre has more info. These do happen - but fairly rarely, and this a very dramatic example. I've only ever seen from an aircraft.
— Kevin Skrepnek (@KevinSkrepnek) September 17, 2018
