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A grass fire between Queenstown and Arrowtown has been tackled. Photo: Photo / AFP
In a world-first, a team of local and international scientists have generated fire whirls in the unlikely Canterbury town of Twizel.
Fire whirls, also known as fire tornadoes, occur during extreme wildfire events around the world but until this month, they've never been deliberately created in the field.
Researchers from Canterbury University, the US National Centre of Atmospheric Research, the US Forest Service, and Crown institute Scion say the experiments will prove helpful in predicting the formation and movements of fire whirls.
Fire scientist Hugh Wallace spoke to Guyon Espiner this morning.