ANZAC, ALBERTA | BY ROD NICKEL
A massive wildfire near Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada, that has grown to five times its initial size has spread south, forcing more evacuations on Thursday after 88,000 people fled the city in the nation's energy heartland.
The weather forecast has called for cooler temperatures and possible rain, offering hope that controlling the blaze could become easier.
Late Wednesday, flames fanned south from Fort McMurray, the main city in Canada's oil sands region. Officials issued mandatory evacuation orders for the Anzac, Gregoire Lake Estates and Fort McMurray First Nation communities, located about 50 km (31 miles) south of the battered city. Officials on the scene were forced to evacuate a make-shift emergency operations center for the second time in less than a day.
Authorities said there had been no known casualties from the blaze itself, but fatalities were reported in at least one vehicle crash along the evacuation route.
Thousands bunked down for the night on Wednesday in arenas, hockey rinks and oil work camps that were often short of fuel and food. Fire also threatened the airport, and web cam images showed black smoke engulfing the area late Wednesday evening. Officials confirmed that a hotel north of the main terminal had caught fire, but as the sun rose on Thursday new images of the airport showed no obvious damage.
Major oil sands facilities were not in the path of the flames, but companies' efforts to help employees and evacuees and protect pipelines affected production and helped boost the price of crude.
Austrian consultancy JBC Energy estimated that some 500,000 barrels per day of capacity was offline. [O/R]..more
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