News Mash-up: Extreme Conditions

Heat wave hits Canada, US with record highs A heat wave that smashed all-time high temperature records in western Canada and the U.S. Northwest has left a rising death toll in its wake as officials braced for more sizzling weather and the threat of wildfires. The worst of the heat had passed by June 30, but the U.S. state of Oregon reported 63 deaths linked to the heat wave. By comparison, the same state had only 12 deaths from hyperthermia from 2017 to 2019, the statement said. In British Columbia, at least 486 sudden deaths were reported over five days. (Reuters) Blaze grows as wildfires burn across US West The largest wildfire in the U.S. torched more dry forest landscape in Oregon on July 18, one of dozens of major blazes burning across the West as critically dangerous fire weather looms in the coming days. The destructive Bootleg Fire just north of the California border grew to more than 1,200 square kilometers, an area about the size of Los Angeles. Some 2,000 residents of a largely rural area of lakes and wildlife refuges evacuated. The blaze has burned at least 67 homes and 100 outbuildings. (AP) These articles were provided by The Japan Times Alpha.