Washington, Oregon heat-wave deaths total 194

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - Washington state’s death toll from last month’s record-breaking Pacific Northwest heat wave has risen to 78.

A year earlier, Washington had just seven heat-related deaths from mid-June to the end of August, the state Department of Health said last week. From 2015 to 2020, there were a total of 39 deaths.

Oregon on July 7 reported 116 deaths following temperatures that shattered previous all-time records during the three-day heat wave.

Of the 116 deaths recorded in Oregon, the youngest victim was 37 and the oldest was 97. In Portland’s Multnomah County, where most of the d...