The Metro Vancouver Regional District says a fire at a trestle bridge in Richmond, B.C., has been extinguished after sending up huge plumes of smoke that prompted an air quality bulletin for the region. The district says in an update on the social media platform X that air quality has now improved and it will issue an update to end the bulletin. The district's air quality map shows the area around the now-extinguished blaze near the Oak Street Bridge on the north arm of the Fraser River is ranked at level two of 10, indicating "low risk." Richmond Fire-Rescue said earlier Friday that crews had

British Columbia's election is still four months away, but Premier David Eby has held a campaign event in Vancouver ahead of what he says is a personal count down next week's expected birth of his third child. Eby says he and his wife, Cailey, are expecting a daughter on June 27, so he wanted to make an early start to campaigning for the Oct. 19 election before taking a break to spend some time with his family. He introduced four New Democrat candidates, including former broadcaster Randene Neill and Baltej Dillon, the first RCMP officer to wear a turban on duty. Eby's early campaign start com

The father of a homicide victim in Surrey, B.C., says she was killed in a home invasion on the weekend. The Integrated Homicide Investigation team says 30-year-old Tori Dunn died after being found with life-threatening injuries at a home in the Port Kells area of Surrey late Sunday night. Police say a suspect was arrested near the crime scene after a search that involved the Police Dog Service, and the person is being held in custody on a related charge while the investigation continues. Dunn's father, Aron Dunn, says in a Facebook message that his daughter was the "victim to a home invasion"

BC United Leader Kevin Falcon has lost another member of his election team to British Columbia's Conservative Party. Business leader and former District of Sechelt councillor Chris Moore announced he will no longer represent BC United in the October provincial election in the Powell River-Sunshine Coast riding and will instead run as a candidate for Leader John Rustad's Conservatives. Falcon's party has lost several high-profile candidates and members to the Conservatives recently, including members of the legislature Elenore Sturko and Lorne Doerkson who crossed the floor and said they'll see

British Columbia's worker safety agency is moving to address "gaps" in construction crane safety after recent accidents, including fatalities. WorkSafeBC says in a statement that it developed safety plans after bringing together 130 groups and individuals, including tower crane operators, unions, employers, contractors and the B.C. Association for Crane Safety. It follows a series of incidents and accidents involving tower cranes in B.C., including the death of a worker in Vancouver in February when a load fell on them, and a crane collapse in Kelowna in 2021 that killed five men. WorkSafe's T

British Columbia Premier David Eby says construction of an $85-million expansion of kidney hemodialysis services in Surrey is set to start in August. Eby says a new unit at Surrey Memorial Hospital will add 21 renal hemodialysis beds to treat patients with kidney disease, bringing the hospital's total to 60 stations. The stand-alone unit is expected to open in 2025 and the province will pay $84 million, while the Surrey Hospitals Foundation will pay $1 million. Health Minister Adrian Dix says kidney concerns are one of the leading health issues in Surrey, where residents are already having to

Fines for illegal hunting and fishing in British Columbia are more than doubling as the province cracks down on offences against wildlife. The Ministry of Forests says the new scale of fines effective Tuesday under the Wildlife Act ranges from $345 to $1,495, up from the current range of $115 to $575. The biggest fines apply to people who hunt or possess big game out of season. The ministry says in a news release the new penalties “better reflect the serious nature" of wildlife offences and acknowledge the importance of wildlife to B.C. Other offences subject to the fines include unlawful tr

The head office of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia in North Vancouver will be transformed into an urban housing development with hundreds of homes near major transit hubs. Premier David Eby says the province has reached an agreement to buy the Crown auto insurer's waterfront headquarters with plans to develop market and below-market homes close to transit and the SeaBus to Vancouver. Eby says the agreement to turn the property into a mixed use residential area with ICBC was also reached with the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations, and there are plans to work with the C

Environment Canada says an unseasonable cool air mass over southern B.C. has broken minimum temperature records, including one dating back about 70 years. The forecaster says temperatures fell to 4 degrees in the Trail area on Sunday, breaking the record of 4.4 degrees set in 1954. In the Bella Bella area, the minimum of 3.9 degrees broke the 4-degree record set 10 years ago. Records for low daily maximum temperatures were also set, with the Kelowna area reaching just 13.3 Celsius, breaking the 15-degree record set in 1906. Penticton and Princeton also reset records established in 1939, while