By Liz Hampton and Rod Nickel
LAC LA BICHE, Alberta, May 9 (Reuters) - Canadian
firefighters looked to cooler weather on Monday to help with
their battle against the country's most destructive wildfire in
recent memory, as officials sought to gauge the damage to oil
sands boomtown Fort McMurray.
The fire, which started on May 1, spread so quickly that the
community's 88,000 inhabitants barely had time to leave and
whole neighborhoods were destroyed.
"This is great firefighting weather, we can really get in
here and get a handle on this fire, and really get a death grip
on it," Alberta fire official Chad Morrison said on Sunday.
The wildfire scorching through Canada's oil sands region in
northeast Alberta had been expected to double in size on Sunday,
but light rains and cooler temperatures helped hold it back.
The temperature, which reached a high of 17 C (63°F) on
Sunday, was expected to cool further, with Environment Canada
forecasting a 40 percent chance of showers in Fort McMurray on
Monday.
Cooler temperatures around 10 C were expected through to
Friday after last week's record heat. Still, much of Alberta is
tinder-box dry after a mild winter and warm spring.
Alberta's government estimated on Sunday that the fire had
consumed 161,000 hectares (395,000 acres).
Officials made clear it was too early to put a time line on
getting thousands of evacuees camped out in nearby towns back to
Fort McMurray soon, even if their homes are intact.
The city's gas has been turned off, its power grid is
damaged and the water is undrinkable.
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said on Sunday recovery
efforts had begun, with 250 employees from power company ATCO
working to restore the power grid and assess gas infrastructure.
Fort McMurray is the center of Canada's oil sands region.
About half of the crude output from the sands, or 1 million
barrels per day, has been taken offline, according to a Reuters
estimate.
Oil prices jumped almost 2 percent in trading early on
Monday, as Canada's fire contributed to tightening supply.
O/R
The inferno looks set to become the costliest natural
disaster in Canada's history. One analyst estimated insurance
losses could exceed C$9 billion ($7 billion).
Nearly all of Fort McMurray's residents escaped the fire
safely, although two people were killed in a car crash during
the evacuation.
In his now regular evening message Fort McMurray fire chief
Darby Allen on Sunday sent condolences to the families of the
two teenage cousins in the crash. One of the victims,
15-year-old Emily Ryan, was the daughter of a fireman in the
city.
Regional officials also said via Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) that firefighters
were getting their first break since the fire began a week ago
after being relieved by reinforcements.
(With additional reporting by Nia Williams in Calgary; Writing
by Jeffrey Hodgson; Editing by Richard Pullin)