A terrifying fire tornado has been caught on camera in California by the US Forest Service.
The rare weather phenomenon appeared over the California-Oregon border last month as wildfires broke out as a result of extreme hot weather and drought.
Experts from the US Forest Service terrifyingly described the fire tornado as a "spinning vortex column of ascending hot air and gases rising from a fire."
The clip, which you can view below, was filmed on June 29, and shared on Facebook in a post made by the US Forest Service.
As you can see, the video shows a swirling vortex of air, fire, cascading dust and debris around vehicles and diggers as firefighters attempt to put out the flames.
Rachel Smith, a spokesperson for the Klamath National Forest Service, uploaded the footage and captioned the post: "This is the type of extreme fire behavior that firefighters were facing during [the] initial and extended attack of the Tennant Fire.
"This video was shot during [an] extended attack on Tuesday, June 29th."
A number of Facebook users have since taken to the comments to react to the video's contents and commend first responders for their courageous efforts to tackle the conflagration.
For instance, one person wrote: "As the mother of a Forest Service firefighter, this scares me to death!"
A second penned: "Horrible conditions!! So dangerous for our firefighters. My prayers and thanks to you all."
Then this person stated: "You firefighters put your lives on the line to save our lives!! Be safe and God Bless you all are heroes!! Thanks."
Finally, another Facebook user wrote: "I cannot fathom how a human being can stand in the face of that horror. Firefighters are heroes, & that doesn't begin to give them the credit they deserve. [sic]"
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Captain Tom Stokesberry of the Tennant fire's incident team stated that this was one of the first times a fire tornado has registered on radar and been captured on video.
Fire tornados can occur as a result of wildfires heating air so much that a giant cloud develops. When this is met with strong winds, the flame clouds can rotate, resulting in a fire tornado or fire whirl.
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