Millions swelter in US as Canada curbs rail service

Millions of people across the western United States and Canada were hit yesterday by a new round of scorching hot temperatures, with some roads closed, train traffic limited and new evacuations ordered.

In Canada, with wildfires continuing to spread – including 50 more blazes erupting in the past two days – the government announced new emergency measures aimed at preventing further fires.

Sweltering conditions hit much of the Pacific seaboard and as far inland as the western edge of the Rocky Mountains over the weekend.

“A dangerous heat wave will affect much of the western US, with record-breaking temperatures likely,” the National Weather Service (NWS) said on its website yesterday, while Canadian meteorologists predicted highs approaching 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32° Celsius) in parts of western Canada – well above seasonal norms.

On Saturday Las Vegas matched its all-time record of 117F, according to the NWS – a temperature recorded in the desert entertainment city once in 1942 and three other times since 2005.

Meanwhile Death Valley, California – often the nation’s hottest spot – was headed for a high of 126F.

Forecasters issued an excessive heat warning for several other urban centres, including the southern city of Phoenix and San Jose, the centre of the Silicon Valley tech industry south of San Francisco.

The weekend’s hot weather follows an earlier heatwave that struck the western United States and Canada at the end of last month.

The scorching conditions saw the all-time record daily temperature broken three days in a row in the Canadian province of British Columbia.

Canada’s transport minister, Omar Alghabra, announced new emergency measures yesterday aimed at preventing further wildfires in the tinder-dry region, including steps to slow or limit train traffic.

Trains are a common cause of wildfires, often when their spark-arresting devices poorly maintained.

The order will require both the Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) to take a number of precautions to protect against wildfires, including reducing train speeds, according to a transport ministry statement.

On Friday, Alghabra had ordered a 48-hour stop to rail transport in parts of British Columbia that expired at midnight on Saturday.

The new restrictions took effect yesterday morning and will remain until October 31.

The order “will put in place interim measures while the department works with railway companies to incorporate these fire risk reduction measures on a permanent basis”, the ministry said.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) said on Friday that it was deploying teams of investigators to see if freight trains were potentially responsible for sparking two fires, including the one that ravaged Lytton.

The Lytton blaze erupted after the town broke Canada’s more than 80-year-old heat record with a 49.6C temperature.

There are now 297 wildfires burning in British Columbia, an increase of 97 in two days, according to official data.

In areas of the province facing extreme fire risk, CN and CP must ensure at least 10 fire detection patrols, remove combustible materials from the tracks, and ask conductors to report fires they spot, among other measures.

Nationally, trains will have to run at reduced speeds when there is extreme fire risk and when the outdoor temperature is high.

CN and CP will also be required to come up with a fire risk mitigation plan and consult with indigenous communities about fire hazards.

Already the recent spate of fires had disrupted shipments of goods in and out of the port of Vancouver.

CN and CP did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Last month was the hottest June on record in North America, according to data released by the European Union’s climate monitoring service.