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Heat wave blankets US West as fires rage in several states

  • By Daisy Nguyen/AP
Smoke envelops trees as the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire, burns in Doyle, Calif., Friday, July 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

 Noah Berger / AP

Smoke envelops trees as the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire, burns in Doyle, Calif., Friday, July 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

(San Francisco)  —  Another heat wave blanketed the West, prompting an excessive heat warning for inland and desert areas.

Death Valley in southeastern California’s Mojave Desert reached 128 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service’s reading at Furnace Creek.

The largest wildfire of the year in California was raging along the border with Nevada.

The Beckwourth Complex Fire — a combination of two lightning-caused fires burning 45 miles north of Lake Tahoe — showed no sign of slowing its rush northeast from the Sierra Nevada forest region after doubling in size between Friday and Saturday.

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