South Africa has seen its fair share of veld fires over the years, especially during the drought. That being said, our fires are nothing compared to what’s been happening in Canada.

British Columbia declared a state of emergency back in August, as more than 500 wildfires burned throughout different parts of the country.

Now, dramatic footage was posted to social media by a Canadian firefighter who captured a rare “fire whirl” on camera.

You have to see this. It looks like a special effect in a big budget disaster film:

The Guardian reports that “a fire crew in British Columbia can be seen struggling to regain control over a fire hose”.

The hose was sucked into the sky by high winds, while nearby a flame swirls in a vortex. This is the very definition of the word ‘epic’.

Mary Schidlowsky wrote as a caption to the dramatic video. “That’s definitely a first.”

Schidlowsky said the column of air extended at least 200ft up, but visibility was marred by heavy smoke.

Fire officials say the relatively rare phenomenon – which is caused when heat from the fire and ground temperature combine to create uplift – is different from a tornado.

The fire swirl is similar to the dust devils that you see in the Karoo.

The video, which has been viewed more than 66,000 times, is from 19 August, when crews were fighting the Chutanli Lake fire in central British Columbia under high winds.

The fire, which peaked at 20,800 hectares, is still burning, but is classified as “being held”, meaning officials don’t expect it to grow any larger.

The crew felt they were a safe distance from the whirl, said Tower, but the video has prompted a review of proper responses to future scenarios.

More than 1,3 million hectares of land burned during the blazes, making it the worst fire season in the history of British Columbia.

There are still 397 active fires burning today.

If you’re clued up on Cape Town’s past fires, you might remember this clip from 2015, of fire tornadoes in Tokai Forest.

The best footage can be seen from the three-minute mark:

[source:theguardian]