Canada: Evacuations as wildfire closes in on oil sands town

Authorities in Canada are hopeful that a massive wildfire will turn away from a town in the heart of the country’s oil-producing region in Alberta.

Some 6,000 people had evacuated from Fort McMurray as of Wednesday and the blaze scorched almost 21,000 hectares (52,000 acres) of forest and nearly doubled in size as it approached the town.

But Alberta Wildfire spokesperson Christie Tucker said on Wednesday night that cooler temperatures and calmer winds were expected to weaken and “push the…