Nearly 1,000 firefighters battled a huge forest fire in northern Alberta yesterday, with officials holding out little hope of bringing the blaze, which has already forced the evacuation of one small community, under control any time soon. The fire, which has been devouring vast tracts of woodlands near the tiny northeastern Alberta town of Conklin for about a week, has now spread over 1,200 square kilometres (470 square miles) of tinder-dry forest, an area roughly 1-1/2 times that of New York City.