Destructive Phenomenon - a fire tornado
Firefighters battling a huge grassfire in Queensland have witnessed a rarely seen destructive phenomenon - a fire tornado.
Crews fighting the fire near Thargomindah, in the state's far west, watched in awe as a massive fire tornado formed inside the inferno on Sunday.
It went up about 300 metres in the air
Bulloo Shire Mayor John Ferguson says as the giant column of flame rose, it was photographed by a local woman.
"It went up about 300 metres in the air," he said.
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"Then about 30 metres of flame broke off and flew about 400 metres over the fire break, which was the main road, and started another fire."
The photos are being passed around fire stations across the state.
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Queensland Rural Fire Service Superintendent Wayne Waltisbuhl explained that the phenomenon occurs when an intensely hot fire sucks in colder air around it.
As the hot air rises, cool air is sucked into a central hotspot and begins to spin, creating a vortex of flame.
A fire tornado can even form pyrocumulous clouds, kilometres above the main blaze.
"As the heat rises, unburned particles are carried up and find moisture pockets," Mr Waltisbuhl said.
"The moisture wraps around them and forms a cloud, which stays quite hot and often the heat can be so intense you'll see lighting coming out of the clouds and even flames inside the cloud as well."
Mr Waltisbuhl says eventually the cloud cools and the charred particles fall as black rain.
"People talk about the black rain that falls after vortexes, that's what it is," he said.
Meanwhile, one fire crew is monitoring a bushfire at Greenbank, south of Brisbane, looking for flare-ups to ensure embers stay within containment lines.
There are 50 fires burning across the state, including several large grassfires at Agnes Water, Bundaberg, Kingaroy, and Gympie, but all have been contained within fire breaks.
Regional manager of rural fire operations Peter Hollier said any fire which starts in the next day would be harder to contain with a southerly wind change predicted.
‘‘There will be a hotter weather condition that is developing and will see any fire that will kick off on Friday will very quickly become difficult to manage,’’ he told 612 ABC Radio.
Yesterday, crews battled 42 blazes including major outbreaks at Hughenden in the north-west, Crows Nest National Park on the Northern Downs.
Backburning will continue today with a slight reprieve in conditions, but firefighters are warning even a slight weather change could create havoc.
‘‘Friday is going to be a worse day for us, temperatures rising, probably an elevated fire danger on that day we are expecting,’’ rural operations director Peter Varley told 612 ABC Radio.
AAP - with Marissa Calligeros
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