Hello Chris,

A large forest fire can do the same thing. On August 8, 1959, fire crews were trapped by a wildfire on the Ortega Hwy above Lake Elsinore in Riverside County in California. This was called the Decker Canyon Fire. 6 fire fighters lost thier lives. It is the most enigmatic fire over run in US forest fire history.
The fire was burning down slope, and then the wind stopped. The fire built in intensity and then turned into a massive fire whirl which trapped the fire crews along the highway. This is a segment of the report;

"The pattern of this whirl can be clearly traced along the ground. Chamise stems two inches in diameter were twisted off about two feet above the ground. The remaining stems were sandblasted completely smooth. There were no rocks left smaller than a softball where the main fire swirl crossed the ridge. Winds in this area undoubtely reached 75 to 125 mph".

I have the written report. I will find a web for this. The other thing I remember is that after the big twister in OK city in Oklahoma, they found a rag doll nearly 400 miles away. Just sharing some info.
Nature can be rather violent, twister, fire, or otherwise.

Glen