(15 Jan 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Worcester, Massachusetts – 15 January 2025
1. Wide of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute building housing its Fire Protection Engineering Lab
2. Close up of the door into the lab
3. Fritz Brokaw, lab manager in the department of Fire Protection Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, ignites a test fire that quickly develops into a fire whirl
4. SOUNDBITE (English) James Urban, Worcester Polytechnic Institute:
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"The fires in Los Angeles have been very destructive. And one way in which we’re seeing just how intense these fires are is the formation of these fire … so-called fire tornadoes or fire whirls. And I think it’s a good manifestation of the destructive power of these fires."
5. Close up of the fire whirl
6. SOUNDBITE (English) James Urban, Worcester Polytechnic Institute:
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"The term fire tornado isn’t a very precise one. It can mean a lot of different things, but generally speaking, we call these things fire whirls. And these these fire whirls where it’s a spinning structure … flow structure can be … can reach very, very high wind speeds."
7. Mid of the fire whirl
8. SOUNDBITE (English) James Urban, Worcester Polytechnic Institute:
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"And so the fire, you know, can burn and it spread quickly, posing that thermal danger as well as, you know, the smoke and all the nasty things there from the smoke and emissions. But then the tornado aspect or the high winds add the … the risk of wind damage. And so you can have debris that’s flung by the wind that can, you know, hurt people. It can also knock over, you know, damage structures as well as, you know, hamper efforts by first responders or other people who are in that area to escape or find cover."
9. Close up of signage at the Fire Protection Engineering Lab
10. Close up of a fire whirl
11. Close up of smoke generated by the fire
12. Close up of the fire whirl
13. SOUNDBITE (English) James Urban, Worcester Polytechnic Institute:
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"So, fire whirls also can be a mechanism for flinging embers far away from their source and far ahead of the fire front, allowing the fire potentially to spread very long distances."
14. Close up of fire ambers and fire brands produced during a controlled fire in the lab
15. Wide of a fire whirl
16. SOUNDBITE (English) James Urban, Worcester Polytechnic Institute:
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"I think it’s important to note, too, that when these events happen, you can have a sudden shift in the fire behavior, and that poses a threat to first responders because they may be … it only gives them … it gives them less time to respond to the sudden change, and, you know, the fire could suddenly move in their direction when otherwise it was moving in a different one."
17. Close up of a fire whirl
AP Video shot by Rodrique Ngowi.
STORYLINE:
A Massachusetts wildfire researcher has described the destructive power of the fires in Los Angeles, particularly the formation of fire tornadoes or fire whirls.
These fire whirls can reach very high wind speeds, similar to those seen in a tornado, and pose a significant threat to people and structures.
James Urban is an assistant professor in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
He was describing the destructive power of fire whirls during a demonstration in the school’s Fire Protection Engineering lab.
He said the intense fires can create these fire whirls, which can fling embers far away from the fire’s source, allowing the fire to spread rapidly.
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