A scorching funnel of fire and black smoke whirled near a lake in Canada last Thursday, forcing one firefighter to make an escape by plunging into the water.
Video footage filmed by an onlooker and shared by St. Albert Fire Services captured what the department referred to as a “fire tornado” off Big Lake, northwest of Edmonton in Alberta.
Firefighters rushed beneath the towering smoke to contain a grassfire that sprang from an out-of-control campfire, according to CTV. Within seconds, a funnel of thick smoke formed within as winds carried debris into the air.
Diane Logan filmed the firefighter’s effort from across the water.
“We saw a huge black funnel coming toward us, and you could hear the wind,” Logan told CTV. “It was pretty scarry.”
As thick smoke billowed and spread, firefighters decided to retreat.
One firefighter shown in the video, Vince Pashko, became separated from his colleagues before diving into the Sturgeon River.
“When the guys screamed, ‘Watch out,’ I turned around and all I could see was just a huge wall of black ash,” said Pashko, who described how he “bee-lined” it for the water.
A moose and two young calves also took to the water to escape the blaze, CBC reported.
When he emerged from the water, Pashko was relieved to hear his fellow firefighters calling his name, he told CBC. He knew he was the only one missing.
The firefighter suffered only minor burns to his ears.
