Torrid heat bakes millions of people in large swaths of US, setting records and fanning wildfires

Roughly 130 million people are under threat from a long-running heat wave that has shattered records with dangerously high temperatures. More records could fall through the coming week, from the Pacific Northwest to the Mid-Atlantic states and the Northeast. Record temperatures were notched in multiple places in across the West on Saturday. That included Ukiah, north of San Francisco, where the mercury hit 117 degrees Fahrenheit and tied the hottest temperature ever recorded in the city. The National Weather Service says it is extending the excessive heat warning for much of the Southwest through Friday. In California, firefighters dispatched helicopters to drop water on wildfires fanned by high temperatures and low humidity.