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It’s like pouring gas on the fire.
A frightening phenomenon known as a “fire cloud” was observed in France for the first time, sparking fears that it could intensify the infernos raging across Europe.
“These cells are unstoppable,” says Jean-Baptiste Filippi at the University of Corsica, France, New Scientist reported. “You cannot stop a thunderstorm, and neither can you stop a firestorm.”
Known as pyrocumulonimbus, these aerosolized accelerants are formed by smoky columns of intense heat and energy given off by volcanic eruptions and large wildfires, according to NASA.
As this plume rises, its air is cooled by low atmospheric pressure and condensed into a cloud by water vapor. If the fire is hot enough and the atmosphere unstable, this can form into a powerful fire cloud, which can soar as high as 9 miles into the stratosphere.
This so-called “fire-breathing dragon of clouds is a perfect storm for exacerbating a blaze — they generate lightning, burning embers and powerful winds that accelerate the inferno, as well as twisting flames known as fire tornadoes.
While generally associated with the wildfire hotbeds of Canada, Australia and California — most notably forming during the Golden State’s historic 2021 fire season, per the New York Times — the pyrotechnic phenomenon appeared over the Gironde wine region of France on July 24 and another on July 25.
The resultant embers and lightning produce new fires in the region, fanning the flames of an inferno that already burned 162 square miles since last week.
The fire came within 9 miles of the city of Bordeaux, prompting an evacuation of 220,000 people.
If confirmed, it could be the first time one of these blaze-inducing hazes has been observed in the country.
“It’s the first time France has had to explicitly consider the concept of a pyroCb,”said Rick McRae, an adjunct professor from the University of New South Wales’ (UNSW) bushfire research group, the Guardian reported. “Whether or not they had one a few days back or not isn’t really the question….the question is whether there’s one coming on Tuesday, Wednesday this week.”
Were a fire cloud to strike, the resultant blaze would be nearly impossible to contain due to its unpredictable trajectory.
“We cannot fight it directly. It’s a David-versus-Goliath scenario,” Eric Brocardi of the National Firefighters Federation of France told local outlets while discussing the Gironde blaze.
France isn’t the only nation being ravaged by wildfires.
Spain declared a national emergency after an inferno burned close to Madrid in what the capital’s regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso described as the worst in the region’s history, the Independent reported.
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