The devastating California forest fire has forced the US Forest Service to close 18 national forests with California Guv Gavin Newsom has declared an emergency

As multiple US states continue to struggle with unprecedented wildfires, a video from the state of California is giving the internet goosebumps. In the video posted on September 12, one can see a unique fire tornado or ‘Firenado’ raging through huge patches of burning land as firefighter rush to dose it. The video seems to have been shot near a fire truck with its siren blowing.

WATCH HERE

Fire tornadoes do not form in the same way that actual tornadoes do. An actual tornado comes from a thunderstorm. A fire tornado forms when the air is dry and thunderstorm-free.

While a fire tornado is not a true tornado, it does have the look of a tornado.

Here's how that happens: a wildfire drastically warms the air above it. This fired-warmed air rises. Then, the fire on the ground traces the rising air.

Air is an ingredient for fire. This is why you blow on a camp fire when you're trying to start one -- the air helps the fire ignite.

As fire traces the rising air, it gets twisted by cross winds.

Nearby mountains cause cross winds, which are winds blowing from different directions.

These winds twist the fire-lined rising air so that it has the look of a tornado.

Meanwhile, Oregon and Washington on the other hand are also struggling to continue the devastating wildfires that continue to burn thousands of acres every day. California has mobilised more than 14,100 firefighters to fight the flames.

Dozens of wildfires tearing through communities across the West have left at least 33 people dead, and authorities fear dozens more are missing and unaccounted for.

Of the people killed since some of the fires broke out in mid-August, 22 have been in California, many of them in the past few days. Ten people have been killed in Oregon and one child was killed in Washington state.

Across the West, 97 large fires were burning Saturday, including 12 in Idaho and nine in Montana, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

Smoke from the massive blazes is making the air quality unhealthy, federal air quality monitors warned. That can irritate the lungs and cause inflammation, which can affect the immune system, making people more at risk of lung infections such as coronavirus.

* Only ANDROID users at moment.
* Features under development.

California: Three of the state's five largest wildfires burning now

In California, firefighters are battling more than two dozen major fires across the state, but officials expressed hope that improving weather conditions will boost firefighters' efforts to control the flames.

Three of the five largest wildfires in the state's history are burning now, officials say.

Little rain, high temperatures and strong winds helped set the stage for the flames and fuel them. And it may take a long time for them to stop.

The sheer number of blazes is taxing the resources used to battle them. Angeles National Forest Fire Chief Robert Garcia told CNN Saturday that his department is fighting fires with 500 personnel, when they usually have 1,000 to 1,500.

LATEST NEWS