Inside a tornado of fire

IN THE history of California bushfires there has never been anything like it: A churning tornado filled with fire, the size of three football fields.

An official report describes in chilling detail the intensity of the rare fire phenomenon and how quickly it took the life of Redding firefighter Jeremy Stoke, who was enveloped in seconds as he tried to evacuate residents on July 26.

Three videos released with the report show the massive funnel of smoke and flames in a populated area on the edge of Redding, about 400km north of San Francisco.

The smoke-and-fire tornado was about 300m wide at its base and shot about 12km into the sky; it reached speeds of up to 265km/h, with temperatures that likely exceeded 1480C, says the report by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The tornado exploded in the middle of what was already a gigantic, devastating fire that started on July 23 with a spark from a vehicle. Mr Stoke is one of eight people killed since the fire started. It was 71 per cent contained as of yesterday.

A 17-year veteran of the fire department, Mr Stoke was familiar with the dangers of normal bushfires. But this was unprecedented.

“This is the largest documented fire whirl – a fire-generated tornado – in California history,” said Jonathan Cox, a Cal Fire battalion chief.