Canada: Raging wildfires force thousands to flee

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 uncontrolled fire, which has consumed swathes of the city, has shut oil production in the area, driving up global oil prices and affecting projects and pipelines across the heavily forested 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 of Fort McMurray, which was evacuated Tuesday.

At least 6,40,000 barrels per day of crude output is offline, according to Reuters calculations, roug-hly 16 per cent of Canada’s crude production. The outage is expected to climb as major players in the region cut production.

Mr Conoco Phillips said it was evacuating its small 30,000-barrel-per-day Surmont project, south of Fort McMurray.

The winds also pushed flames toward the local airport, with web cam images showing black smoke engulfing the airport late on Wednesday evening. Officials confirmed that a hotel north of main terminal had caught fire.

Officials on the scene were forced to evacuate a make-shift emergency operations centre for the second time in less than a day, and the spreading flames threatened community centres feeding and housing evacuees from Fort McMurray.

The forecast has called for cooler temperatures and a possibility of rain, offering hope that controlling the blaze could become easier.

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 in arenas, hockey rinks and oil work camps.