Fire Whirl

Basic Information

A fire whirl, also called a fire devil or fire tornado, is basically a tornado that has formed out of fire instead of just air. This requires a large-scale ordinary fire and the right updraft conditions, which are quite rare. Most are fairly small, but some have reached more than one kilometer in height.

See Also

• Event/News: Rare 'fire tornado' filmed in Brazil
• Event/News: Hawaii Fire Tornado Caught On Film
• Peshtigo Fire

Sources

Bibliography

1. Wikipedia entry

Game and Story Use

• In fantastic settings, these could be free-willed fire elementals roaming the land.
  • Wizards could be given high rewards to drive them away - or to control them and hurl them against enemies.
• In a science fiction world, these might be far more frequently-occurring natural phenomena - perhaps the local plants grow very quickly and easily combustible, leading to frequent wildfires.
  • The "dry season" on such a world could be a major tourist attraction, as visitors try to see such whirls.
    • And, of course, some tourists inevitably expose themselves to too much danger by getting too close. Which means that the PCs might need to rescue them.
      • Or arrange for them to "accidentally" come to close to the fire, in case they are assassins.
• Even in the real world, this could be a very dramatic addition to the scenery, especially if your campaign deals with themes of devastation… like the End Times.
• Two of these rare phenomena occurred (and were captured on film) just a couple days apart - one in Hawaii and one in Brazil. Makes you wonder if there's some connection between the two…