Was that a fire tornado swirling amid the flames in Pacific Palisades?

A spinning fire vortex spotted on video Friday among the flames in a raging Pacific Palisades wildfire looks similar to a tornado, but scientists are still examining whether it was a rare fire tornado or a more common and less intense event known as a “fire whirl.”

Video footage shows the tall, thin inferno surrounded by a cloud of smoke swirling on a hillside inside the Pacific Palisades blaze, which has spread across more than 23,000 acres in Los Angeles County and is now the area’s most destructive fire in history.  The fire is one of multiple blazes that have scorched over 40,000 acres in the Los Angeles area in the past week, wiping out communities.

The blaze looks similar to a twister. But Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA, told USA TODAY that it instead appears to be an example of a fire whirl, which is “more akin to a dust devil than a tornado” and is less severe.

“These spin up briefly along the flaming front of wildfires burning with sufficient intensity, often when fires are burning through especially dense brush and/or moving upslope,” Swain said.

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How do fire whirls form?

Fire whirls form when wind converges with the updraft of hot air from the fire. As the new air moves in, it can create a rotating motion. Swain said whirls are far more common and happen during most large wildfires. They're also much less dangerous than full-fledged fire tornadoes, which can leave a trail of destruction in their wake.

How do fire tornadoes form?

Fire tornadoes occur when intense wind combines with conditions in the atmosphere to produce clouds of smoke that reach 20,000 to 40,000 feet, Swain said. These clouds form vortices of flaming hot gases and can create winds that whip over 100 mph.

Susan Buchanan, a spokesperson for the National Weather Service, said the agency does not keep routine records of fire tornadoes but noted that the events often occur during intense wildfires and are among the most dangerous situations for firefighters to combat.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Was there a fire tornado? Spinning vortex spotted in Los Angeles fire