Sweltering heat wave engulfs California

SACRAMENTO, California — Swaths of California sweltered on Tuesday and things were only expected to get worse during the Fourth of July holiday week for parts of the United States, with nearly 90 million people under heat alerts.

The torrid conditions were being caused by a ridge of high pressure just off the West Coast and a separate ridge that spawned heat warnings and advisories from Kansas to Missouri and the Gulf Coast states, the National Weather Service said.

John Mendoza, 35, called it a "fire hose of heat" as he walked around the Capitol on Tuesday with an iced coffee in his hand. By 9 am, he had already been in a pool once — and planned to go back later in the day.

"I felt like I needed to be submerged in water," he said.

Sacramento, California's capital, was under an excessive heat warning expected to last until Sunday night, with temperatures forecast to reach between 41 C and 46 C.

About 113 kilometers north of Sacramento, crews working in scorching conditions were battling a wildfire in Butte County that forced the evacuation of about 13,000 people in and around Oroville. The blaze, dubbed the Thompson Fire, broke out before noon and sent up a huge plume of smoke as it swiftly grew to more than 7.8 square kilometers by evening, with zero containment.

Firefighters lined roads, trying to keep the flames from reaching homes as helicopters dropped water on the fast-moving blaze.

The governor's office announced late on Tuesday that federal funding had been approved to help with firefighting efforts. Earlier this week, Governor Gavin Newsom activated the State Operations Center to coordinate California's response, dispatch mutual aid and support local communities as they respond to threats of wildfire and excessive heat.

As temperatures spiked in Sacramento, Katherine Powers sought refuge in the shade of Cathedral Square. Powers, who is homeless, sipped sparkling water while resting her bare feet on the shaded sidewalk.

Powers said she had lent her shoes to a friend. She had not yet visited one of Sacramento County's nine "cooling centers", she said, because of the difficulty in bringing all the possessions she carries.

"I'm just going to go to a park with a water fountain just to stay cool, stay in the shade and just keep pouring water on me, basically," she said. "There's not too much that I can do."

An analysis by The Associated Press found that heat killed more than 2,300 people in the US last year, a record. That figure is likely a major undercount, dozens of experts told AP.

The heat arrived with gusty, dry winds in the state's north, where the utility Pacific Gas & Electric implemented public safety power shutoffs in parts of 10 counties to prevent wildfires from being ignited by downed or damaged electrical wires.

About 12,000 customers were told their power could be cut and given information about centers where they could obtain ice, water, snacks, Wi-Fi and other necessities, PG&E said.