Flames roll across the Mojave Desert. Firefighters face more than danger on the ground. They’re also fighting flames in the sky—well, sort of. Fire whirls zip across the horizon.

These spinning columns of fire look like tornados. In fact, some people actually call them “fire tornados.” Some are just a few feet tall. Others stretch hundreds of feet into the air.

“While these can be fascinating to observe, they are a very dangerous natural phenomena that can occur during wildfires,” say officials from the National Park Service.

What causes fire whirls? They require two ingredients. Those are heat and wind. Nevada’s desert provides an abundance of both.

The wildfire erupted on Friday in California. It quickly spread. The blaze crossed into Nevada. It headed toward the city of Las Vegas. Smoke filled the skies. Airports delayed flights due to the haze.

So far, the flames have scorched about 120 square miles of desert. That’s a space about half the size of Chicago, Illinois.

Firefighters struggle to contain the burn. Planes drop fire-dousing chemicals over the desert.

Some might wonder, “Why work so hard to fight fires in the desert? Aren’t deserts . . . deserted?”

The Mojave Desert may look empty. But it contains a teeming ecosystem. The U.S. government considers much of the Mojave a “protected wilderness.” Tortoises, deer, and bighorn sheep call it home. Most of the world’s Joshua trees grow there. If those trees burn, they could disappear forever.

Ileene Anderson is a scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity. She says it could take 200 to 300 years for the desert to recover. Even if local wildlife survive the flames, their food sources might not. The effects of the fire will linger.

We might see only sand and shrubs. But God sees every desert creature. He cares for them all.

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. — Matthew 10:29