A fire event created by the intense heat combines with turbulent wind conditions, causing the flames to be drawn up into a spiraling, funnel-shaped wind current that sucks in burning debris and takes on the visible
appearance of a tornado, and in which the internal
temperature can exceed 2,000 degrees
Fahrenheit or 1,000 degrees Celsius.
The
combination of the 105 degree heat and fierce
Santa Ana winds caused roaring firenadoes, which were captured on videotape taken by
residents, as they fled for their lives.