This very impressive fire whirl was captured on video March 14 at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal near Denver, Colorado during a prescribed fire. The swirling wind swept up tumbleweeds, some of them burning, and created a problem for firefighters. It was posted on YouTube by Bellevue Wildfire.
Thanks and a hat tip go out to Jim, Steve, Tristan, and Andrew.
I wonder what would have happened to the dust devil if a stream of water had been directed at the base of it? Could that have changed the outcome? Anyone know?
Mike, it’s an interesting thought. I don’t have the definitive answer, but here are some things I thought about. There is a HUGE amount of energy in that large whirlwind. It is caused by sunlight heating the ground which in turn heats the air above, on a day when the atmosphere is very unstable — that is, there is less resistance to vertical motion. And of course heat from the fire can add to the effect, or cause it outright. The heated air rises quickly and spins. This generally only happens when the wind is not blowing very strongly.
With a typical nozzle on a wildland fire putting out 5 to 40 gallons per minute, I can’t imagine that amount of water having any effect. But if you could inject enough water to cool the hot ground and the rising air, it might make a difference. That would probably take, however, hundreds or thousands of gallons per minute; difficult to accomplish on the spur of the moment on a wildland fire. And applying the water in the desired location in that whirlwind would be problematic.
I’ve knocked down little fire whirls with a hose but by the time they rolled up on that one it was already too big.
That scene reminded me of the flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz. Creepy little buggers!
Very cool video, the music I don’t know about.
Talking about atmospheric instability. Was this a episode from the old T.V. show Living Color? I’m positive I saw Fire Marshall Bill.