Video footage from Friday shows a rotating inferno surrounded by smoke in the Pacific Palisades fire that has devastated the LA area.

Fire devils or "firenados" are not really tornadoes at all. A tornado forms downwards from ... actually has more in common with a whirlwind or dust devil, as they form from the ground upwards.

Adam Krueger, Fox 11's Chief Meteorologist, could be heard explaining the phenomenon in real time over the clip, likening the fire tornado to the dust swirls that can be seen on a baseball field.

Fire whirl, fire devil, fire tornado or even firenado — scientists, firefighters and regular folks use multiple terms to describe similar phenomena, and they don’t always agree on what’s what.

Fire tornadoes, also known as fire whirls, fire devils, or firenadoes ... can grow stronger as more hot air feeds into it. A fire tornado can stretch hundreds of feet into the sky and have ...

But Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA, told USA TODAY that it instead appears to be an example of a fire whirl, which is “more akin to a dust devil than a tornado” and is less severe.