Thick black smoke billowed above Richmond, B.C., after a fire broke out in the north of the city Thursday evening.
Richmond Fire-Rescue said crews attended an industrial building near the River Rock Casino Resort at around 9 p.m. PT.
“[Firefighters] arrived to see heavy smoke and flames coming out of the building,” said Grant Wyenberg, assistant deputy chief of operations with Richmond Fire-Rescue.
“They got water on it quite quickly and knocked down the fire quite quickly but there was some extension onto the trestle bridge just to the north of there,” said Wyenberg.
Vancouver fire. Old railroad tracks burning <a href=”https://t.co/qHSewhQZU1″>pic.twitter.com/qHSewhQZU1</a>
—@Coyler_
The Metro Vancouver Regional District said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that an old rail bridge caught fire and was causing black smoke. The district issued an air quality bulletin, asking anyone with shortness of breath, chest discomfort, severe coughing or dizziness to seek medical help.
The fire had been extinguished as of Friday morning, according to the Metro Vancouver Regional District.
“This morning we will be reviewing air quality information and updating our air quality bulletin as appropriate,” the district said on social media.
Wyenberg said it’s not clear how the fire began.
He said he suspected the burning bridge was covered in creosote, a wood-tar preservative, which was producing the heavy black smoke, which could be seen from many areas of Vancouver to the north.
DriveBC said on X that the fire affected traffic on the Oak Street Bridge, which connects Richmond and Vancouver.
⛔️<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/OakStreetBridge?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#OakStreetBridge</a> Northbound traffic being blocked at Bridgeport Rd due to a fire. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/BCHwy99?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#BCHwy99</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/RichmondBC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#RichmondBC</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Vancouver?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Vancouver</a> <a href=”https://t.co/kWJghmmJlN”>https://t.co/kWJghmmJlN</a>
—@DriveBC
Operations at Vancouver International Airport, located around two kilometres west of the fire, were not affected, the airport said in a statement on X.
Que Gardner, a visitor from Jacksonville, Fla., said he was in the casino when the fire broke out.
“Before I knew it, everything was on fire over here, and it slowly worked its way down,” he said.
Jacob Joseph said he saw the fire from near Lansdowne Park. He cycled from his home nearby to see the source of the smoke.
“I’m shaken up,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like this in Richmond.”