Video shows large ‘fire vortex’ at Utah wildfire, damaging fire engine

No injuries were reported, but a fire engine was damaged when a massive “fire vortex” formed within a fire burning in southeast Utah over the weekend.

The rare weather phenomenon occurred while crews were battling the Deer Creek Fire, which was burning in San Juan County, on Saturday. Video of the event, taken by firefighters assigned to attack the fire, shows flames and smoke swirling like a large tornado.

These events — sometimes referred to as fire whirls, pyrogenetic tornadoes or firenados — are a “spinning vortex column of ascending hot air and gases rising from a fire and carrying aloft smoke, debris and flame,” according to the U.S. Forest Service. They’re often between 1 and 500 feet in diameter, but they can also be larger and stronger than that.

They’re created when “highly unstable, superheated, dry air near the ground breaks through the boundary layer and shoots upward in a swirling motion,” per the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

It wasn’t immediately clear how large Saturday’s vortex was, but it did damage a BLM fire engine enough that it had to be pulled from firefighting operations for repairs, said Anna Rehkopf, a spokeswoman for the federal agency. She added that crews likely won’t know the extent of the damage until a few more days.

The Deer Creek Fire, which has now burned a little over 10,000 acres since it began on Thursday, remains 0% contained, Great Basin Complex Incident Management Team No. 4 reported on Monday. About 300 personnel are assigned to fight the fire. All residents north of state Route 46 between Upper 2 Mile Road and the Utah-Colorado state line remain under evacuation.

Fire investigators are still working to determine what sparked the fire, which has destroyed at least nine structures, including four homes in the area.

Other fires burning in Utah

Meanwhile, the Monroe Canyon Fire has now burned 1,248 acres since it sparked on Sunday, leading to an evacuation of homes in Sevier County that remains in place on Monday. Nearly 200 personnel are now assigned to the fire.

It and the Deer Creek Fire have become Utah’s top concerns, while crews have gained an upper hand on the state’s two largest fires of the season to date.

Over 500 personnel remained assigned to the Forsyth Fire, which is now 72% contained. The lightning-caused fire has scorched 15,673 acres since it was first reported on June 19. It also destroyed over a dozen structures in the Pine Valley, Washington County area.

The France Canyon Fire burning near Bryce Canyon is now 90% contained. A local unit took control of fire operations on Sunday since most of the fire is now contained.

A section of the fire in a “very steep, rugged country that is inaccessible to crews and aircraft” is the only part that hasn’t been contained, Color Country Type 3 Incident Management Team officials wrote in their final report before transferring fire management. It has burned nearly 35,000 acres since the lightning-caused fire began last month, making it the state’s largest fire in five years.

Nearly 550 fires have broken out in the state this year, which have burned over 67,000 acres of land.

Fire weather update

Hot and dry conditions remain in the forecast for the start of this week, which isn’t helping the state’s fire conditions. The National Weather Service issued an extreme heat warning for parts of Washington County, where temperatures could exceed 110 degrees on Monday.

Triple-digit heat is also possible along the Wasatch Front as a high-pressure system lingers over the West. Windy afternoon conditions and isolated storms are also possible over the next few days, but it’s unclear how much rain those could produce, says KSL meteorologist Matt Johnson.

“Those aren’t going to be helping us because they can cause more wind and even lightning starts,” he said.

“Wetting rain” is possible toward the end of the workweek and into the weekend, according to the Great Basin Complex Incident Management Team overseeing the Deer Creek Fire. Johnson said monsoonal rain could return to other parts of southern Utah, and possibly into other regions.