High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The 2007 western North American heat wave was a record-breaking event that began in late June 2007. The heat stretched from Mexico to Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and into northwestern Ontario. The record heat has exacerbated already present record-breaking drought conditions in much of the Western U. S., allowing fires to grow to record-breaking sizes. The combination of conditions forced major freeway closures, animal and human deaths, evacuations, and destruction of property. Much of eastern North America experienced more average conditions through July 2007, with little in the way of prolonged heat waves. However, drought remained a problem in some areas of the east, particularly parts of the southeast.