Firefighters across the US west were battling to contain multiple blazes on Monday amid persistent high temperatures, including a wildfire that forced evacuations near Salt Lake City, Utah, over the weekend.
The Sandhurst fire broke out on Saturday afternoon and quickly grew to more than 200 acres (81 hectares). Authorities said more than 100 firefighters responded to the scene, with helicopters and planes dropping buckets over the flames as ground crews tried to douse the fire, which was only 10% contained as of Monday.
Meanwhile in southern California, flames descended on the residential neighborhood of Riverside. Fires were also burning in Colusa and Lake counties in the north of the state. And in Oregon and Washington state, more than 500,000 people were under red flag warnings over the weekend.
In Salt Lake City, fire crews battled on Sunday to save homes about 1.2 miles (1.9km) up East Capitol Boulevard, and evacuees were offered a space in the capitol complex where they could escape the heat. Evacuation orders were lifted on Monday.
Temperatures in the Salt Lake City area were expected to remain in the high 90s in the coming days and even creep into triple digits.
Southern California authorities ordered evacuations in Riverside on Sunday, where the Hawarden fire grew to more than 527 acres. Aerial footage from KABC-TV showed at least three houses burning. As of Monday the fire was 20% contained.
Multiple other small fires were burning across inland southern California as temperatures reached triple digits (37C) in some areas. There are currently more than 20 active wildfires burning across the state, which has sweltered under a lingering heatwave for weeks.
Far to the north in Colusa and Lake counties, evacuations were ordered on Sunday for remote homes threatened by the Ridge fire. That blaze broke out Saturday and grew to more than 2,600 acres and was 25% contained as of Monday.
Oregon is also battling an aggressive wildfire season, with residents of Malheur county ordered to evacuate on Saturday as the Durkee fire there grew to more than 110,000 acres. Much of the state was under a red flag warning over the weekend, with dry temperatures and strong winds exacerbating the fire risk.
A lengthy heatwave has increased the wildfire threat across the US west in recent weeks, with dried out land and record-setting temperatures heightening the risk of ignitions.
Extreme heat is the most deadly type of weather-related disaster, and the toll is already on the rise. Multiple deaths have already been linked to extreme heat in Utah, Oregon and California this summer.
