A tank cooking from the propellant of the ammo is indeed fierce, it's like a blowtorch with the oxygen turned way up. To educate in what it would look like, take a can of smokeless powder and set it on the ground and light the open neck. The rush of flame is identical. If the ammo cooks or goes off, the tank is separated in several pieces.

During action the remains of unburned powder floated around the turret and could catch fire in little whiffs like coal dust. A friend of mine said he would constantly be getting singed because he was hairy like a gorilla...