Winds and Fire in Southern Utah Create Otherworldly ‘Firenado’

A wildfire burning in Southern Utah created a beautiful and extremely dangerous anomaly over the weekend.

The Deer Creek wildfire is burning in San Juan County to the east of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. Inside the fire, winds combined to create a giant swirl of fire and debris.

WATCH: Giant ‘Firenado’ in Southern Utah Deer Creek Fire

Videos of the fire show the ‘firenado’ - or ‘EXTREMELY large fire whirl’ and ‘vortex/tornado ordeal’ as it’s described in a Facebook post - burning, turning, and throwing debris as it moved towards buildings in the desert.

The fire has been burning for four days and has grown to over 11,000 acres, leaving a path of destruction and prompting evacuations. Check out the video of the ‘firenado’ below from Brian Schnee and additional videos in the comments section on Facebook.

The social media post doesn’t say how big the vortex was, but it looks huge in the video.

Here's another video of the firenado.

A ‘firenado’ was caught on video a few years ago in Idaho near Boise. The video was shared by CNN and explains how a fire whirl/firenado is created.

Updates on wildfires burning across the United States can be found on the Western Fire Chiefs or Inciniweb websites.

The cause of the Deer Creek Fire is still undetermined and under investigation.