Heat Records Melt Down in N. California

Northern California sweltered under record-breaking heat Wednesday that intensified wildfire conditions and buckled the freeway between Sacramento and the Bay Area.

Triple-digit temperatures caused power outages that affected thousands of businesses and stalled subway service across the bay. Cities issued emergency warnings, urging residents to restrict driving and use less electricity.

Traffic backed up for miles as a high of 109 degrees in Solano County buckled the pavement in three of four eastbound lanes of Interstate 80, the main commuter artery out of the Bay Area.

At the Giants game at San Francisco’ Pac Bell Park, 34 people were treated for heat exhaustion.

One person was hospitalized for heatstroke, with a body temperature of 106 degrees.

“Rolling brownouts” hit the city’s South of Market area, where Internet companies are concentrated.

Dry conditions and gusty winds prompted a red-flag warning for most of the region, meaning that the California Department of Forestry denied fire permits and placed all local fire units on duty.

In Napa, sparks ignited dry grass and 35-mph gusts fanned the blaze, which consumed about 5,700 acres and forced 40 families from their homes. The fire was 35% contained by Wednesday evening, and forestry officials expected to have it completely contained by 10 p.m. today.

In Solano County, a cigarette tossed from a car was suspected as the cause of a blaze that burned 1,200 acres and threatened a subdivision and a small herd of cows. It was controlled early Wednesday.

In San Francisco, the mercury tied the all-time record of 103 degrees, set in 1988. San Jose and Ukiah hit 104, and Santa Rosa in the northern San Francisco Bay Area hit 106. In Sacramento and the Central Valley, temperatures soared above 106 degrees. Thermal, a small town in Southern California, registered 123 degrees.

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S.F. BLACKOUTS

The Bay Area endured electricity blackouts because of high demand. C1