This is shot by an emergency team as fire fighters watch in disbelief. Fire fighters have died in these events before. Quite something!
AND THE WIKIPEDIA SAYS:
A fire whirl is a phenomenon in which a fire, under certain conditions (depending on air temperature and currents), acquires a vertical vorticity and forms a whirl, or a tornado-like effect of a vertically oriented rotating column of air. Fire whirls may be whirlwinds separated from the flames, either within the burn area or outside ...