Much of western North America has been facing record-breaking temperatures off late, creditable to the heatwaves. Various communities were asked to evacuate the region as firefighters have been struggling to cope up with the heatwave and wildfires.
Residents of California were asked to conserve power after the power lines in the U.S were shut down. Death Valley in California recorded 54.4 C last week, which is considered to be the highest temperature recorded on earth. However, some climate experts have claimed that the area had recorded 56.7C back in 1913.
As per the reports of the National Weather Service, Nevada, and Las Vegas have recorded 47.2C, its all-time highest temperature on Saturday, which is anticipated to continue further.
Reportedly, 2 firefighters have died as their aircraft crashed while retaliating to a blaze in Arizona. Meanwhile, people were evicted from homes as wildfires from lightning strokes wreaked havoc on the Sierra Nevada forest region of northern Nevada.
Oregon witnessed a wildfire as a result of strong winds on Saturday which doubled in size to 311 sq km in Fremont-Winema National Forest. Last week, Brad Little, Governor of Idaho mobilized the state's National Guard after declaring a wildfire emergency to combat fires by lightning.
Likewise, British Columbia in Canada encountered a similar situation amid the extremely hot and humid weather. An entire village was also destroyed in a blaze after Canada soared to 49.6C earlier this month.
The country has introduced new railway safety directives that will need Canadian Pacific Railway and Canadian National Railway to take several protections including reducing train speeds during extreme fire risks and removing flammable material near tracks.
Affected people are warned to drink lots of water and stay in air-conditioned buildings. Various cooling centers have been built in areas to provide respite to the citizens from the heatwave.
Canada has also issued heat warnings to the affected people to reassess outdoor activities and look for symptoms of heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
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