<span style="color: #222222;">A historic heat wave in western Canada is believed to have led to a sharp spike of deaths in British Columbia, with the toll expected to climb further.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The 486 sudden deaths are nearly triple the 165 that would normally occur in the province over a five-day period, according to local weather agency. The number is preliminary and is expected to rise as more records are entered into the system.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">A new Canadian record was set this week in Lytton, British Columbia, where the temperature reached 121 degrees Fahrenheit (49.5 degrees Celsius). The heat has stunned residents in a region accustomed to weather so cool and chilly at this time of the year. Temperatures have been soaring some 25 degrees Celsius above average for this time of the year – a deviation as anomalous as having an ice-forming freeze in late June, according to Tyler Hamilton, a Toronto-based meteorologist for The Weather Network.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Calls to 911 in the province have broken records and emergency responders are being stretched thin, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said at a news conference yesterday.</span><br />''  <br />