I’ve read about firestorms in news and media but what are they more exactly? I am picturing a hurricane that is on fire but that’s not possible unless the hurricane is also packed full of flammable materials that somehow isn’t extinguished by the rain or strong winds.
In: 4
The simplest explanation is that a firestorm is a fire that is so large and so hot that it creates its own weather system, hence the “storm”.
Normal fires rely on ambient oxygen in the nearby air to burn, which limits how strong they can get. They can’t burn any faster than they can get oxygen, no matter how much fuel they have. This is why when it gets windy, fires can be more dangerous — the wind brings fresh oxygen to the fire and can also carry sparks to spread it further. It’s a bit similar to how bellows can cause forges to burn hotter than normal fires.
A firestorm happens when you have so much stuff burning all at once that the fire creates its own wind. The hot air from the fire moves upward, creating an area of low pressure that the air around it starts getting sucked in, creating an inward draw of air. If this gets strong enough (and there’s enough fuel around), this cycle becomes self-sustaining as the fire burns hotter and hotter, causing more and more air to get sucked in.
Because of this out of control chain reaction, firestorms burn *much* hotter and faster than normal fires. They can and have consumed entire cities, and it’s speculated that in some cases it can get so hot that any bodies trapped in the fire can be burned to ash as thoroughly as if they were cremated.
Latest Answers