- It is uncomfortable and burns when you breathe, says Cody Newsom.

He is one of about 100 people who fled the extreme heat into one of the cooling centers that the state of Idaho has opened.

Libraries, churches and congress halls have been transformed into living rooms with liquids, food and, above all, air conditioning.

Up to 40 degrees - in the shade

Outside, in the state capital Boise, it is for the fourth day in a row three-digit degrees outdoors, in Fahrenheit.

Calculated in Celsius, the temperature has varied between 38 and 40 degrees - in the shade.

The elderly have received recommendations to stay indoors, and the rescue services are on full alert due to the great risk of forest fires, several are already raging in the state.

In Boise, a number of cooling centers have been opened.

It has been needed, says Miranda Jay, a volunteer at one of them.

Several times they have been forced to call the emergency number.

- Their bodies lose the ability to cool them down.

They become disoriented, very confused and extremely dehydrated.

A woman vomited uncontrollably, and of course needed medical help.

But we are here to try to prevent such situations.

Cody Newsom recognizes the descriptions.

As a homeless person, he has not been able to avoid the heat and his burnt arms and shoulders testify to far too many hours in the sun. 

- Normally you can usually be out for an hour or two, but now it burns within five or ten minutes.

Meteorologist: "Extraordinary"

The heat in Idaho is expected to last for at least a week, which is unique, according to Jay Breidenbach, a meteorologist at the US National Weather Service.

- Every year we have single days where the temperature rises to 38 degrees.

But this is extraordinary because of both its size, where the heat affected the entire northwestern United States and western Canada, and because of its magnitude, where we measured up to 47 degrees heat. 

How has it affected the area around Boise?

- It is extreme and above all has a great impact on people.

But we also see how the demand for electricity has exploded, when people want to cool down their homes, and that stresses our electricity system.

Even here at the authority, we will now start using diesel generators instead of electricity, to save on electricity, says Breidenbach. 

He also says that Idaho will in the future get used to more heat waves like this.