From NBC News:
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By Chantal Da Silva and Marlene Lenthang
LONDON — The London Fire Brigade declared a major incident in response to a huge surge in fires across the capital Tuesday, as 34 sites across the country shattered the record for the highest temperature ever documented in Britain. The heatwave has brought much of London’s bustling life to a screeching halt with canceled train service, frantic fires and hundreds of ambulance calls an hour.
On a normal day, London firefighters receive between 300 and 350 calls for service — but by early Tuesday evening, there had been more than 1,600 such requests, Mayor Sadiq Khan said.
"We simply can't cope with the number of fires across our city directly attributable to the heat wave we're experiencing," Khan told Sky News.
Britain’s infrastructure is unequipped to handle the tremendous heat as air-conditioning is uncommon outside of offices and public centers, and many homes were built in the 1800s with thick brick walls that absorb heat in the day and retain it at night.
Firefighters were also battling blazes outside the capital, including a major grass fire in Dartford, Kent, about 20 miles southeast of London.
As of late Tuesday afternoon, the Kent Fire and Rescue Service said it had 18 fire engines at the scene of the blaze near Durrell Dene, in Joyce Green, with video showing heavy smoke and fire along a busy highway. By late evening, firefighters had scaled down their operation to six engines that were expected to work overnight.
The fires broke out as the United Kingdom marked record-breaking temperatures, with an unprecedented 104.5 F in Coningsby.
London’s Heathrow Airport on Tuesday also recorded a record high on Tuesday of 104.4 F, according to the Meteorological Office.
Earlier in the day, a temperature of 102.4 F had been provisionally recorded at Charlwood, Surrey, already breaking records.
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