Heatwave blankets western US as fires rage in several states

Fire consumes a home as the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire, tears through Doyle, Calif., on Saturday, July 10, 2021. Pushed by heavy winds, the fire came out of the hills and destroyed multiple residences in central Doyle. (Noah Berger/AP)

Firefighters struggled to contain an exploding Northern California wildfire under blazing temperatures as another heatwave blanketed the west of the US, prompting an excessive heat warning for inland and desert areas.

Death Valley in south-eastern California’s Mojave Desert reached 53C (128F) on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service’s reading at Furnace Creek. The shockingly high temperature was actually lower than the previous day, when the location reached 54C (130F).