‘Fire clouds’ blanket skies as 3 wildfires rage in Southern California. What are they?
Massive smoke plumes from three wildfires raging simultaneously across four Southern California counties can be seen blanketing the skies from space.
A video shared by the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere on X, formerly known as Twitter, shows smoke billowing from three separate fires: the Line, Bridge and Airport fires.
The smoke continues to billow from the fires as it overtakes the sky, making the separate fires indistinguishable.
“All three fires have created large pyrocumulus smoke plumes,” the institute wrote.
So, what are they?
Pyrocumulus clouds, also known as “fire clouds,” “are plumes of smoke that can form in the wake of large wildfires and make their way high into the sky,” Smokey Bear said in a February 2022 Facebook post.
The clouds form from air quickly rising from wildfire heat, “capping a smoke plume with a cauliflower-looking cloud,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
“These tall, billowing features typically have a column of smoke at their base and powerful updrafts that channel large amounts of smoke high into the atmosphere,” NASA says.
In the right conditions, the “fire clouds” can create their own weather, such as “rain, hail, extreme winds, and even tornadoes,” according to Smokey Bear.
High winds can be extremely worrisome, Bryan Lewis, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, told Southern California News Group.
“One of the major concerns with that is the downdraft that comes off of it similar to a thunderstorm,” Lewis told the outlet.
When rising air is capped by smoke and forced downward, it creates gusty winds, Lewis said, according to the outlet.
“Those winds can essentially go in any direction which makes it extremely dangerous in terms of fire growth at the surface,” Lewis told the outlet.
Line Fire
San Bernardino County’s Line Fire, which threatens more than 65,000 structures, has burned nearly 40,000 acres and is 18% contained as of Sept. 12, CalFire reports.
So far, the fire has destroyed one structure and damaged three more, CalFire says.
Three fighters have been injured battling the blaze, the agency says.
A 34-year-old Norco man was arrested on an arson charge Sept. 10 after he was accused of starting the fire in Highland on Sept. 5, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Bridge Fire
The Bridge Fire, raging across Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, has grown to nearly 50,000 acres and is 0% contained as of Sept. 12, according to CalFire.
“This is currently the largest active fire in the state of California,” Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone told KNBC. “Our priority remains the protection of life and structure and infrastructure defense.”
The cause of the fire, which started on Sept. 8 and currently threatens more than 1,000 structures, remains under investigation, according to CalFire.
Airport Fire
The Airport Fire started in Trabuco Canyon in Orange County on Monday, Sept. 9, and quickly grew into Riverside County, CalFire reports.
In a matter of days, it has burned more than 20,000 acres and is 5% contained as of Sept. 12, according to CalFire.
Two civilians and eight firefighters have been injured by the blaze, CalFire says.
The fire has damaged half a dozen structures and threatens 20,000 more, the agency says.
While CalFire says the cause of the fire is under investigation, Orange County authorities believe the fire was unintentionally sparked by heavy equipment used by the county’s public work crews, the Orange County Register reported.
State of emergency declared
Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Wednesday, Sept. 11, as the three wildfires across the four counties are “burning predominantly on federal lands,” according to a news release from the governor’s office.
“California is deploying every available resource to combat these devastating fires, and we’ll continue to work in lockstep with federal and local partners in this herculean effort,” Newsom said in the release.
This story was originally published September 12, 2024 at 12:14 PM with the headline "‘Fire clouds’ blanket skies as 3 wildfires rage in Southern California. What are they?."
