However, as a precaution, California Highway Patrol did shut down Highway 138 for a time. No buildings were immediately threatened by the fire, which took place on rough, hilly terrain.

local time, 60 percent of the inferno had been contained. said 200 emergency responders were battling the blaze, and 'making good progress.'īy 11 p.m. When firefighters first arrived on the scene they estimated the fire's size as four acres, though this grew to 150 acres by the evening, at which point the blaze was contained.Ī tweet from the fire department at 5:16 p.m. Large fire whirls have the intensity of a small tornado.'Ī photo of the inferno was tweeted by the Los Angeles County Fire Department's air operations section, who said: 'Short range spotting and fire whirls on the #SamFire tell the story of dry, receptive fuels and erratic winds from intense surface heating.' The department says: 'Fire whirls range in size from less than one foot to more than 500 feet in diameter.

This results in the fire spinning upwards, where it drags in more gas and debris as fuel.įire whirls are defined by the United States Department of Agriculture Fire Service as 'spinning vortex column of ascending hot air and gases rising from a fire and carrying aloft smoke, debris, and flame.' tornadoes, also known as fire whirls, can occur when intense, rising heat mixes with powerful winds. The fire tornado was described by one man, viewing it from a helicopter, as 'the biggest one I’ve ever seen'.

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