Another heat wave in West fuels wildfires as Death Valley hits 130 degrees

The western states of the US were hit with the second heat wave within just a few weeks, fueling wildfires and record or near-record temperatures (Pictures: AP/Reuters)

The US West has been hit with another heat wave that is adding fuel to wildfires and caused the hottest place in the world, Death Valley, to approach its highest temperature ever recorded. It is the second episode of extreme heat to hit the region within a few weeks time.

The biggest wildfire so far this year in California, the Beckwourth Complex along the border with Nevada, has charred 134 square miles. Firefighters on Sunday made progress battling the blaze – despite temperatures exceeding 100 degrees – by doubling containment to 20%.

California officials urged residents to ‘conserve as much electricity as possible’ in order to prevent outages on Monday afternoon.

Firefighters from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s Placerville station battle the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire (Picture: AP)

Flames consume a home as the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire, tears through Doyle, California (Picture: AP)

Meanwhile in Oregon, the Bootleg Fire expanded to 224 square miles as it burned up timber in the Fremont-Winema National Forest. The inferno interfered with electricity from three transmission lines providing as much as 5,500 megawatts to California.

Death Valley, California, reached 130 degrees Fahrenheit on Friday and had potential to hit that figure for the second time in just three days, according to NBC News. Death Valley experienced 134 degrees in 1913 and no weather station of record has documented a higher temperature on Earth.

Las Vegas, Nevada, tied its hottest temperature ever at 117 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday as St George tied Utah’s statewide record, also 117 degrees that day.

A firefighter burns vegetation while trying to stop the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire, from spreading in Plumas National Forest (Picture: AP)

Tourists on a road trip from Texas take pictures with a thermometer displaying temperatures of 130 degrees Fahrenheit at the Furnace Creek Visitor’s Center at Death Valley National Park in June (Picture: Getty Images)

Nearly 30million people were under heat advisories across multiple states in the western US on Sunday morning, with temperatures forecast to hover 10 to 20 degrees above average.

Close to 95% of the West is experiencing a drought, and the heat continues to fuel wildfires.

In southeast Washington, a wildfire swelled to nearly 60 square miles. In Idaho, lightning struck areas affected by the drought, prompting Governor Brad Little to send the National Guard to help suppress resulting fires.

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