By Rod Nickel
ANZAC, Alberta, May 5 (Reuters) - Cooler weather andpossible rain forecast for the Canadian city overwhelmed bywildfire offered hope on Thursday that controlling the blazecould become easier, after worsening conditions forced newevacuations south of town.
Late on Wednesday, flames fanned south from Fort McMurray,the main city in Canada's oil sands region. Officials issuedmandatory evacuation orders for the Anzac, Gregoire Lake Estatesand Fort McMurray First Nation communities, which are locatedabout 50 km (31 miles) south of the battered city.
Officials on the scene were forced to evacuate theirmake-shift emergency operations center for the second time inthe span of less than a day.
Major oil sands facilities were not in the path of theflames, but companies' efforts to help employees and evacueesand protect pipelines hit production and helped boost the priceof crude.
Hot, dry, windy weather has made the massive wildfire allbut impossible to control. The entire city of Fort McMurray wasordered to evacuate on Tuesday, and some 1,600 structures havebeen destroyed, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said on Wednesday.
Temperatures hit 31 degrees Celsius (88°F) on Wednesday. Buton Thursday morning, Environment Canada forecast a high of 19degrees Celsius and a 30 percent chance of rain.
But a government forecast map of potential fire intensitystill showed some areas around Fort McMurray at class 6, thehighest possible level.
Authorities said there had been no known casualties from theblaze itself, but fatalities were reported in at least onevehicle 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 fueland food.
(Reporting by Ethan Lou and Allison Martell in Toronto; Editingby Lisa Von Ahn)
