Video documents an oppressive moment: a fire tornado in Greece hurls a tree meters wide

Updated: 08/28/202122:08

• fromChristina Denk

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Greece has been plagued by forest fires since the beginning of summer. A video shows how a fire tornado threw a tree meters through the air in mid-August. Residents tried to avoid it.

Vilia – Greece was hit hard by the extreme weather and fires this year. Hundreds of forest fires have been reported since the end of July. Residents had to be evacuated. The flames reached the suburbs of Athens. And even at the end of August, the danger has not yet been averted. Less than two weeks after the devastating forest fires in the north of Evia, a new fire broke out in the south of the Greek island, AFP reported on Monday, August 23. It burned again northwest of Athens too. People had to be evacuated. The fire brigade fought the flames again. A video from the affected regions now shows drastically what power the flames can develop.

Fire tornado in Greece: uprooted tree flies through the air – residents try to evade

The video, which was taken from Vilia in Attica on August 18, shows how a pillar of fire formed on site in front of the residents and firefighters, according to the video’s info box. The flames blaze meters into the sky and begin to spin. In the background you can hear the screams of the residents and firefighters. Then the tornado can be seen hurling an uprooted tree through the air. First seen only as a small, black point, it comes closer and closer. The bystanders try screaming to evade.

Fire tornadoes

Most fire tornadoes are so-called fire devils, which are often confused with tornadoes. Fire devils arise over or near fires. They are triggered by strong updrafts that are caused by the fire and mix with existing air turbulence. They then become a column of rotating air. The extent ranges from very small eddies (diameter less than one meter) to eddies with a diameter of three kilometers and speeds of up to 50 meters per second (180 kilometers per hour). Smaller fire devils appear quite often over wildfires, while larger ones are rare. Fire devils can develop into fire tornadoes.

According to the information below the video, buses were waiting for the bystanders on August 18. The fire already endangered the houses in the area. Here you come to the Recordings on YouTubeshowing the force of the flames. It burned enormously in Italy this summer. But most of the fires were probably started willfully. (chd)

source https://pledgetimes.com/video-documents-an-oppressive-moment-a-fire-tornado-in-greece-hurls-a-tree-meters-wide/