Knowra Fire whirl Fire whirl A rotating column of flame and hot gases formed when fire-driven heating and surrounding airflow create a vortex. It can intensify combustion by drawing in oxygen and concentrating heat.
Vortex : A region of fluid motion in which flow circulates around an axis or center. A fire whirl is a flame-filled vortex sustained by surrounding air motion.
2018 Carr Fire tornado : A destructive fire-generated vortex that formed during California's 2018 Carr Fire. It demonstrates how extreme fire-driven vortices can develop during a wildfire.
Wildland fire behavior : The ways fires spread and change in response to fuels, weather, terrain, and fire-generated flows. Fire whirls are a distinctive, potentially dangerous form of fire-driven flow.
Dust devil : A small, rotating column of air made visible by dust, usually formed by surface heating in fair weather. Both are rotating columns, but a dust devil does not require a fire or flame.
Buoyancy : The upward force on an object or fluid parcel caused by its displacement of denser surrounding material. Hot gases rise and draw surrounding air toward the fire, helping organize the whirl.
2003 Canberra bushfires : A series of Australian bushfires that burned through Canberra and its outskirts in January 2003. A fire whirl was documented during the intense conditions of these bushfires.
Fire dynamics : The study of how fires develop and interact with heat transfer, fluid flow, and their surroundings. Fire whirls connect combustion to complex patterns of airflow and heat transfer.
Tornado : A violently rotating column of air extending from a thunderstorm to the ground. A fire whirl forms from fire-driven flows, unlike the storm-scale circulation that produces tornadoes.
Convection : Heat transfer through the movement of a fluid such as air or water. Convection carries heat upward and drives the inflow that can feed a fire whirl.
Fire tornado : A fire-generated vortex with tornado-like strength, often involving intense rotation and destructive winds. The term describes especially powerful fire whirls, though not every whirl is tornado-strength.
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