Smoke from Richmond fire can be seen from the Port Mann Bridge, smelled in Kitsilano

RICHMOND (NEWS 1130) – More support is being provided by the BC Wildfire Service as a large brush fire continues to burn near the Richmond Nature Park. The blaze has caused major traffic delays for drivers and is sending thick smoke into an already-hazy sky.

BC Wildfire crews will now be assisting local firefighters from the air as well as the ground.

Richmond Fire Captain Forrest Weissler says he’s never seen something like this in Richmond. “The last fire I was aware of that had a scope like this was Burns Bog in Delta.”

“This is, for me, the first fire that we’ve had in this Department of National Defense property,” he adds.

“We have one [BC Wildfire] helicopter that’s flying overhead… doing an assessment, strategizing how to do a large water drop,” says Weissler.

He adds he believes two medium-sized helicopters have also been sent in. “When they land, we will fill their buckets with our water from the fire truck and they’ll dump them.”

The fire is still uncontained and about eight hectares in size.

The province has sent this chopper in to help tackle this bog fire in Richmond. May use water or possibly foam. pic.twitter.com/B00UNTqAJe — Martin MacMahon (@martinmacmahon) July 27, 2018

Weissler notes no buildings are at risk.

He isn’t sure how long crews will need to be there. “We’ll just keep working on this fire until it’s extinguished safely.”

If you drive through the area, by Westminster Highway and Shell Road, you will smell the fire before you see it.

Crews had tips about the fire overnight, but because it was hard to reach, it wasn’t actually found until 5:30 a.m. today. This morning, crews used chainsaws, as they worked to make a path through to fight the fire.

So for Peet Bog's sake! A brush fire in boggy ground in Richmond where firefighters are dealing with a large area that's hard to get at. pic.twitter.com/1xjYhnMSIa — Steve Saunders (@dingomoose) July 27, 2018

Smoke has been drifting in to South Vancouver. Several callers to NEWS 1130 said they could smell it from as far away as Kitsilano.

“The white smoke is actually a lot of steam coming off what we’ve put out,” says Weissler. “The darker smoke is what’s kind of new that we’re going off of.”

“I’m not sure about the air quality, but we can visibly see the smoke. So, as we dig into the ground and get water on it, that will generate some more smoke, as well,” says Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Gray.

Smoke from the #RichmondBC wildfire as seen from Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver. Note the smoke crosses the airport flight path and is thick near the Oak Street Bridge. #BCwildfire pic.twitter.com/uwp9Evvvj3 — Bruce Claggett (@BruceClaggett) July 27, 2018

Weissler says they don’t yet know how the fire started. “It will be under investigation for awhile.”

While a lit cigarette may not necessarily have sparked this fire, he’s reminding everyone to discard their smoking materials safely.

Westminster Highway is closed between No. 5 Road and No. 4 Road.

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Air quality

You can see the haze around parts of the Lower Mainland but there is no air quality advisory, if you were wondering.

Advisories have been posted for almost every other part of BC, however, wildfires in the Okanagan and southeastern BC aren’t entirely to blame.

The BC Wildfire Service says some of the smoke blanketing the province is from those huge wildfires in places like Siberia, Finland and even Greece.

The really young and the really old are being warned to stay indoors as some people may experience issues like coughing, throat irritation, headaches and shortness of breath.

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