* Fort McMurray in the heart of Canada's oil sands region
* Commercial flights in and out of city halted, airport at
risk
* Mandatory evacuation orders issued for communities to the
south
(Recasts updates with details on risk to airport, communities
to the south)
By Rod Nickel
ANZAC, Alberta, May 4 (Reuters) - A massive wildfire that
has forced all 88,000 people to flee the western Canadian oil
city of Fort McMurray and burned down 1,600 structures is now
threatening its airport and communities well south of the town,
authorities said on Wednesday.
With a few neighborhoods already in ruins, worsening fire
conditions Wednesday pushed walls of flames towards thousands of
more homes in the northeastern Alberta town, in the heart of
Canada's oil sands region.
The winds also pushed flames toward the local airport, with
webcam images showing black smoke engulfing the airport late on
Wednesday evening. Officials confirmed that a hotel north of
main terminal had caught fire.
As flames fanned south, officials also issued mandatory
evacuation orders for the Anzac, Gregoire Lake Estates and Fort
McMurray First Nation communities located about 50 km south of
Fort McMurray.
Officials on the scene were forced to evacuate their
make-shift emergency operations center for the second time in
the span of less than a day as the flames spread south.
Officials at the center said in a tweet that they were
relocating to the town of Lac La Biche some 250 km south of
Anzac.
Authorities said there had been no known casualties from the
blaze itself, but fatalities were reported in at least one car
crash among the evacuees. Thousands bunked down in arenas,
hockey rinks and oil work camps, often short of fuel and food.
A huge cloud of black smoke was visible from well over 60 km
(37 miles) away from the town. Traffic on the main road headed
south had thinned to a trickle, however, after major jams on
Tuesday when the evacuation order was given.
Stretches of the highway had been converted into make-shift
campgrounds by people in cars, trucks and recreation vehicles,
who were fleeing the inferno.
Firefighting crews have been unable to stop the wildfire,
which has charred 18,500 acres (7,500 hectares) since it erupted
on Sunday and exploded in ferocity.
"It is a possibility that we may lose a large portion of the
town," said Scott Long, an official with Alberta's emergency
management agency.
Major oil sands facilities were not in the path of the
flames, but companies' efforts to help employees and evacuees
and protect pipelines led to a decline in production.
Images from the neighborhood of Beacon Hill in the city's
southeast showed rows of charred house foundations, their upper
stories burned to the ground, and blankets of white ash within.
Officials said 80 percent of houses in the neighborhood, nearly
600 in total, were destroyed.
The regional government said two other neighborhoods,
Abasand and Waterways, had sustained "serious loss." Alberta
Premier Rachel Notley said a total of about 1,600 structures
have been destroyed in Fort McMurray.
"There are certainly areas within the city that have not
been burned, but this fire will look for them and it will find
them and it will want to take them," said Chief Darby Allen of
the Fort McMurray fire department.
The province declared a state of emergency for what was
shaping up to be Canada's costliest natural disaster.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the military can deploy
air force planes to the stricken city as needed. Fort McMurray
International Airport suspended all commercial flights.
'EXTREME WILDFIRE BEHAVIOR'
It was the second major blaze in the oil sands region in a
year. Last May, wildfires led to the evacuation of hundreds of
workers from the region, and a 9 percent cut in Alberta's oil
sands output.
The wildfire's knock-on effects on oil sands operations
escalated on Wednesday, with five companies including Suncor
Energy SU.TO and Husky Energy HSE.TO reporting reduced
production either because workers had been affected by the
evacuations or because of precautionary pipeline shutdowns.
The impact on crude production volumes was not immediately
clear, but Suncor said late on Wednesday it had shut its base
plant operations - its largest oil sands mining site with a
production capacity of 350,000 barrels of oil a day.
Its other thermal oil sands sites were operating at reduced
levels.
Officials said very hot and dry conditions meant "extreme
wildfire behavior" on all fronts around the fire.
The Canadian Red Cross said evacuees were calling the
organization for help getting food and water.
A highway closure on Tuesday forced most evacuees to drive
north, away from major cities. By Wednesday morning, the highway
had reopened, but fuel had run out, stranding evacuees.
Alberta's transport department said it was escorting a fuel
tanker north to help stranded drivers.
Twitter filled with offers of food, housing and animal care
as worried evacuees asked officials and strangers alike about
the status of their homes. Two babies were born at one
evacuation center on Tuesday.
Wildfires were also raging in neighboring British Columbia
on Wednesday, including a 9,000 hectare blaze in the province's
northeast that was threatening to spread across the border to
Alberta, the B.C. Wildfire Service said.
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GRAPHIC-Map of the Fort McMurray fire http://tmsnrt.rs/1TtvIOD
FACTBOX-Canada wildfire disrupts operations in oil sands region
Residents fleeing Canada wildfires short of fuel, food
Canadian town, already staggering from oil bust, hit by
wildfires
Alberta wildfire set to be Canada's costliest natural disaster
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