Large, smoky fire extinguished in Metro Vancouver, air quality bulletin to be lifted

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 put out the warehouse portion of the industrial fire that broke out near River Rock Casino.

At the time, they were still working to extinguish flames on the trestle bridge at the boundary between Richmond and Vancouver.

The province's driver information system, DriveBC, indicates the Oak Street Bridge is now open in both directions after the fire forced its closure Thursday night.

Vancouver International Airport says its operations are not affected, but it encourages passengers to plan ahead and allow extra time to reach the airport.