Dangerous ‘Fire Clouds’ Are Making France’s Wildfires Even More Destructive

It’s the first time the phenomenon, which is fairly common in North America, has been observed in France

Sara Hashemi | Daily Correspondent

July 30, 2026 2:14 p.m.

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As vast wildfires blaze through Europe in a record-breaking fire season, France is dealing with another unprecedented phenomenon: fire clouds.

Fires in France and Spain have burned more than 600 square miles of land, forcing the evacuation of 330,000 people from their homes, with no signs of respite. Now, officials in France have confirmed the formation of what is thought to be the country’s first ever dangerous pyrocumulonimbus clouds. The phenomenon is the latest indication that Europe’s fire regime is changing.

"This is a very gravely ​serious milestone," says David Bowman, a wildfire scientist at the University of Tasmania, to Coralie Lamarque at Reuters. "It is fascinating, but it is also absolutely disastrous and terrible, and we just don't ​want more of these things."

“Fire-breathing dragon of clouds”

Pyrocumulonimbus go by many names: fire clouds, flammagenitus, and even fire-breathing dragon of clouds. They are created when the intense heat of wildfires drives smoke, ash and water vapor high into the atmosphere. As the rising plume cools, the water vapor condenses around the tiny particles of ash and smoke, creating a towering cloud that can climb more than 30,000 to 50,000 feet into the sky—sometimes even reaching the lower stratosphere.

“You can think of it as like a chimney, which is a fire ​at the bottom and the smoke going straight up a chimney into the stratosphere,” ​Bowman says to Reuters.

The clouds can create their own wind, rain and lightning, and powerful downdrafts from the cloud can also reach the ground and carry embers that start new fires. In a worst-case scenario, pyrocumulonimbus can even generate their own tornadoes.

“You have this tilted column that is sucking air and then propagating embers in front, and it also creates lightning. That’s another way of lighting up fuels in front of the fire, so these cells are unstoppable,” explains Jean-Baptiste Filippi, a wildfire researcher at the University of Corsica, to Alec Luhn at New Scientist. “You cannot stop a thunderstorm, and neither can you stop a firestorm, a strong pyrocumulonimbus.”

These clouds have been documented in the United States, Canada and Australia before—places that are no stranger to massive wildfires. In late 2019, for instance, Australia saw more than 20 firestorms triggered by the clouds. In 2021, a “monster pyrocumulonimbus” loomed over more than 61,000 square miles of British Columbia.

But they are much rarer in Europe. Portugal recorded one during its deadly Pedrógão Grande fire in 2017, and Spain saw one during its 2025 wildfire season.

What does this mean for fire response?

The erratic nature of the clouds make things more dangerous for first responders. Escape routes can close without warning, reports Thomas Adamson at the Associated Press, and the fires can move faster than evacuations can take place.

Firefighters have reached a point of “operational impossibility” that requires them to recognize the need for strategic retreat, says National Firefighters Federation of France spokesperson Eric Brocardi to Agence France-Presse. “The situation on the ground is defensive rather than offensive; it is a war-like scenario where we are under constant bombardment and must get everyone to safety.”

And experts believe pyrocumulonimbus will only become more common in Europe—it’s the fastest-warming continent on Earth, at twice the global average. That means there will be more opportunities for longer and larger wildfires to form.

“We have entered an era of fires that cannot be extinguished,” says Víctor Resco de Dios, a forestry engineer at the University of Lleida in Spain, to Laura Paddison at CNN.

“It’s difficult to predict how far things might go,” he adds to the outlet. “We will soon be unable to rule out Dantean scenarios like those seen in California or Australia, with fires or fire complexes reaching hundreds of thousands of hectares or even a million hectares.”

 

Sara Hashemi | Read More

Sara Hashemi is a science writer and fact-checker currently based in New York City. Her work has appeared in Sierra, The Body, Maisonneuve magazine and more.