Death toll from recent heat wave climbs to 78 in Washington

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

A majority of the deaths from the late June heat wave were in King and Pierce counties.

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

Oregon on Wednesday reported 116 deaths following temperatures that shattered previous all-time records during the three-day heat wave that engulfed Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.