Western heat wave sets records, sparks wildfire evacuations

Across the American West on Saturday, a high-pressure system settled like a lid over the landscape, driving temperatures to historic extremes and stripping the air of its capacity to recover overnight. Phoenix matched a record untouched since 1972, while wildfires ignited and spread rapidly through the Pacific Northwest under conditions forecasters deemed particularly dangerous. The event is a reminder that heat is not merely discomfort but a force that accumulates in bodies, in ecosystems, and in the infrastructure of communities — and that the margin between endurance and crisis can narrow f