A brutal heatwave punishing the U.S. West persisted as a wildfire raged out of control in drought-stricken Oregon
The National Weather Service said the heat wave that brought temperatures of 130 degrees Fahrenheit to California's Death Valley on Sunday had likely peaked, with more moderate temperatures expected by the end of the week.
The high temperatures come as forests and brushwood are already bone dry across the West from years of severe drought, contributing to what authorities say could be an intense fire season. The agency that manages California's power grid, the California Independent System Operator, issued a "flex alert" urging residents to conserve power between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. local time.
Along California's border with Nevada, the Beckwourth Complex Fire had grown to 89,600 acres as of Monday morning, with about 23% containment, according to the state's fire incident reporting system.In Arizona, federal authorities on Monday were investigating the crash of a small plane that went down while surveying a wildfire in the northwestern part of the state, killing both crew members.
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