As firefighters struggled to control wildfires in Canada’s British Columbia, a giant tornado rendered them weaponless when it swallowed a water hose.

A terrifying video posted by firefighter Mary Schidlowsky showed three crew members engaged in a tug of war with the tornado that melted down the pipe. The rare incident occurred on August 19 near Vanderhoof, Global News reported.

“Fire tornado destroyed our line. It threw burning logs across our guard for 45 minutes and pulled our hose 100 plus ft in the air before melting it. That’s definitely a first,” Schidlowsky wrote in her post.