Tenaja Fire: 2 'Fire Whirls' Caught On Camera Near Murrieta

MURRIETA, CA — As fire crews battling the Tenaja Fire in the community of La Cresta continue to douse the flames in the rolling hills of Southern California, they are constantly also fighting flare-ups. Occasionally, they see another sight: a fire tornado, also known as a fire whirl.

Meteorologists used the term "fire whirl" for what is commonly described as a fire tornado. Fire tornadoes are not unusual, a National Weather Service meteorologist said last year when one tore through the Redding area.

"(Fire tornadoes) are similar to dust devils, where the ground gets so hot it has to escape somehow," said Mike Kochasic of the weather service. "The fires created such a hot surface temperature in the ground that the air had to go upward. It created its own weather system."

In the most recent one we've seen on camera, a news reporter covering the Tenaja Fire spotted not just one, but two, fire whirls. The two tornadoes were side-by-side, sending two distinct black smoke plumes into the already-ash-ridden sky.

Mark Mester shared the "incredible" footage on Twitter, which is embedded above.

Fire whirls are surface-based and primarily affected by the near-surface environment, rather than large-scale atmospheric instability.
— NWS San Diego (@NWSSanDiego) September 5, 2019

SEE ALSO: Tenaja Fire: Evacuations Modified, Containment Grows In La Cresta