A firenado was caught on tape Thursday by firefighters in Shasta County, California, as they were driving through a hellish scene near Redding.

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A swirling dust devil-like vortex of fire can be seen dancing toward the road before it spins out as they pass.

A firenado is just what it sounds like; a tornado of fire.

The phenomenon is also known as a fire whirl or a fire devil, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA.

Firenadoes are rare, according to NOAA officials, but when they occur they “generally form when superheated air near the surface of a large fire zone rises rapidly in an airmass” where spin is also present.

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Lt. Gov. Burt Jones — pictured at an August rally in Peachtree City that also featured Vice President JD Vance — appears to have scored another legal victory over gubernatorial rival Attorney General Chris Carr in their battle over campaign finance issues. (Arvin Temkar/AJC 2025)

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