With temperatures climbing to 112 degrees, some say there's really only one recipe for beating the heat: good old-fashioned ice cream.

"Believe me, we're going to have our ice cream after this," said Lorry Parz, gathering with a group of friends he sees every Thursday. "It's never too hot for ice cream."

Frozen treats notwithstanding, the intense heat that's settled over the West this week has created problems that aren't easily solved, from the risk of thunderstorm-sparked wildfires to the heavy burden on the power supply in California and Utah.

"It's hotter than Satan's sauna, which is about 6 billion degrees. There is no excuse for this heat," Angela Cecala said at a park in Salt Lake City, where the temperature reached 101 degrees Thursday.

While some who live near coastal areas got a bit of a break Thursday, forecasters said triple-digit temperatures were expected to stick around in many inland areas at least through the weekend.

It reached 109 in Bakersfield, some 400 miles away from Redding. The mercury hit an all-time record of 108 for the second straight day in Reno, Nev., and rose to 109 in Boise, Idaho.

The extreme heat has inspired some creative tactics for staying cool.

Ranchers in central California's San Joaquin Valley sprayed dairy cows with sprinklers to cool them off, while Salt Lake City zoo officials planned to give sweltering animals icy treats this weekend.

"We give 300-pound ice blocks to the polar bears. The apes get blocks with fruit and veggies frozen in them," zoo spokeswoman Stacey Phillips said. "The cats get blocks tinged with blood, from the meat. We like to call them bloodsicles -- it's like a Popsicle for a cat."

Officials in California and Utah urged residents to conserve electricity to avoid shortages. Federal regulators also raised the price cap for wholesale electricity in the West.

"A low energy price cap could cause severe supply disruptions," the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said.

The commission boosted the maximum price from $55.26 per megawatt hour to $91.87. One megawatt is enough to power about 750 homes.

The higher cap followed two days during which California power authorities warned that soaring temperatures and power plant breakdowns were thinning energy supplies.

Meanwhile, "red flag" fire warnings -- issued when the humidity drops or lightning poses significant danger -- were posted from just north of Los Angeles all the way to Portland, Ore. The monsoon season is expected to bring much-needed rain to the fire-stricken Southwest soon, but there's also a risk of "dry" storms that produce lightning but no rain.

"Forest vegetation is very dry and firefighters and equipment are stretched thin throughout the West," Tahoe National Forest Supervisor Steve Eubanks said as Nevada issued strict new campfire guidelines.

The heat has also created dangerous levels of smog in some areas, triggering advisories that people with respiratory conditions should stay indoors and healthy people should limit outdoor activity.

Redding reached 115 on Wednesday, shattering the city's all-time record of 110 set in 1905. As the mercury climbed again Thursday, customers crowded into a pool supply store.

Maintenance man Ted Ableman was buying a hose for the broken pool at a nearby lodge.

"Man, are they complaining," he said of the guests. "They'll be happy now."

newsday

-- Anonymous, July 12, 2002