A "fire tornado" that chased one firefighter into a lake in Canada last week while his team was battling a grass blaze was captured on video, stunning audiences.
According to CTV News, St. Albert, Alberta, firefighters were battling a blaze believed to be started by a campfire that got out of control last Thursday when they found themselves facing a smoke twister near Big Lake, northwest of Edmonton.
A video of the firefighters escaping the tornado posted on Twitter has been retweeted more than 3,600 times. The video shows one firefighter in particular running toward the lake to escape.
"My head was the opposite direction of the wind storm because I was trying to pull hose over to the [other] side so it didn't burn up and we'd have hose to be able to apply to the rest of the fire," firefighter Vincent Pashko told CTV News about being surrounded by the tower of smoke and being forced to jump into the lake.
"When the guys screamed 'watch out,' I turned around and all I could see was just a huge wall of black ash… and then I just felt the heat come up from behind and I could feel that I was starting to burn up," he continued.
Pashko told CBC News that the swirling column of fire was the most dangerous thing he'd encountered during his nine-year firefighting career.
"I was really lucky," Pashko said to CBC News. "It's just one of those things. I was in a safe zone but you just never know when the conditions are going to change."
Big Lake is a part of the Surgeon River near Edmonton, about five miles in length and nearly two miles wide,
according to the Big Lake Environment Support Society.