Video footage from Friday shows a rotating inferno surrounded by smoke in the Pacific Palisades fire that has devastated the ...

A "fire tornado" was spotted among the flames raging Los Angeles. In video footage captured by Fox 11 on Friday, Jan. 10, ...

When a wildfire intensely heats air close to the ground, it can rise rapidly and start to spin into a narrow vortex. As more ...

But Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA, told USA TODAY that it instead appears to be an example of a fire whirl, which is “more akin to a dust devil than a tornado” and is less severe.

Adam Krueger, Fox 11's Chief Meteorologist, could be heard explaining the phenomenon in real time over the clip, likening the fire tornado to the dust swirls that can be seen on a baseball field.

Following a day when milder-than-expected winds enabled crews to contain minor fires, forecasts predicted gusts re ...