The shocked city dwellers who stared at it were blinded instantly. Air temperatures rapidly rose above 2,000 degrees Celsius. Clothing and wood immediately burst into flames. Swords, spears, mudbricks, and pottery began to melt. Almost immediately, the entire city was on fire.
It’s possible that an oral description of the city’s destruction may have been handed down for generations until it was recorded as the story of Biblical Sodom. The Bible describes the devastation of an urban center near the Dead Sea: stones and fire fell from the sky, more than one city was destroyed, thick smoke rose from the fires, and city inhabitants were killed.