A “small fire” was the cause of major traffic delays and dark smoke from a wooded area in central Richmond this weekend.
Police officers responded to reports of smoke in the area near Westminster Highway and Shell Road around 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.
The fire was roughly 30 metres east of the railway tracks along Shell Road and was extinguished by Richmond Fire-Rescue.
As RCMP officers arrived, a man was also spotted leaving the woods nearby.
“He was intercepted and identified, yet his involvement in this matter is still under investigation,” said Cpl. Ian Henderson, spokesperson for the Richmond RCMP.
One of Richmond’s biggest fires took place within the same forested parcel, confined by No. 4 and Shell roads, Alderbridge Way and Westminster Highway.
That wildfire during the summer of 2018 ravaged 12.3 hectares of the same 55-hectare forested area. The exact cause was never determined.
Richmond RCMP and Richmond Fire-Rescue are working together to investigate the cause of Sunday’s fire.
