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Firefighters fighting fire in Doyle, California
Photo: Noah Berger / AP
The situation in the west of North America had only just eased somewhat when another heat wave is affecting entire regions.
The US weather service issued warnings for more than 30 million people: The heat posed a high health risk for them.
In almost all of California and in large parts of Nevada, the highest warning level applied.
Not only elderly or sick people are considered to be at risk, but everyone.
The authorities called on people to drink enough, to stay in refrigerated rooms or in the shade.
In some places, the heat is said to last until Monday.
According to preliminary information from the National Weather Service, a good 47 degrees Celsius was measured in Las Vegas on Saturday.
The thermometer has rarely climbed that high there in the past few decades.
In Death Valley, California, notorious for its heat, a good 54 degrees were measured.
The highest temperature ever recorded there was 56.7 degrees.
It also got extremely hot on the weekend in the states of Utah and Arizona.
The western United States had to fight not only with enormous heat, but also with forest fires at the weekend. In the US state of Arizona, both crew members were killed in the crash of an aircraft that was used to observe a fire. The cause of the crash was initially unknown. Forest fires also spread in the states of Oregon and California. The so-called bootleg fire in Oregon also affected energy supplies to California.
California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency over the effects of the fire on the energy supply and the extreme heat.
On Thursday, he had called on the residents of the most populous US state to save electricity and water.
At the weekend, the emergency rooms in the western United States reported an increase in heat-related illnesses and deaths, according to the Washington Post.
First heat, then fires in Canada
It was only at the beginning of the month that a heat wave hit the north-west of the USA and western Canada with temperatures of almost 50 degrees. According to the authorities, the heat had contributed to numerous deaths. In the Canadian community of Lytton, around 260 kilometers northeast of Vancouver, 49.6 degrees had been measured - previously the record in Canada was 45 degrees. A few days later, the village was almost completely destroyed in an inferno.
According to the US climate agency NOAA, last month was the hottest June nationwide since records began 127 years ago, with an average temperature of 22.6 degrees Celsius.
Eight states - including California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah, which were hit by the heat wave again this weekend - also experienced their hottest June.
jok / dpa
