DENVER (KDVR) -- Multiple fires are burning on the Western Slope, and a weather phenomenon known as fire clouds caused one of the fires to spread across a highway, and it is now among the largest wildfires in Colorado history.

Flammagenitus is the scientific name for these clouds, but they are better known as pyrocumulus clouds or fire clouds.

Fire clouds are formed as a result of convection initiated by localized natural heat from sources like fires or volcanic activity, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

The clouds form when there is enough moisture and atmospheric instability over the intense heat source, and though it is not common, the National Weather Service said they can grow to produce lightning and light precipitation, making it a pyrocumulonimbus cloud.

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