Redding, Calif. ? Triple-digit temperatures turned much of the West into a furnace for a third-straight day Thursday, sending miserable residents to pools and air-conditioned shops in a bid to stay cool.

“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.

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 to ensure adequate supply.

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

Coastal areas got a break as cool ocean breezes arrived Thursday, easing the need for air conditioners. California power grid managers said they didn’t expect any outages one day after issuing the first serious power alert since the rolling blackouts of last year.

Still, forecasters said cooler weather wasn’t expected in many inland areas until this weekend at the earliest.

It reached 112 degrees in this northern California city and 109 in Bakersfield, some 400 miles away. The mercury also hit a record of 108 for the second-straight day in Reno, Nev., and rose to 109 in Boise, Idaho.

“Red flag” fire warnings issued when the humidity drops or lightning poses a special danger were posted from just north of Los Angeles all the way to Portland, Ore. Monsoon storms are soon expected to bring much-needed rain to the fire-stricken West but also “dry” storms packing lightning.

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