A cloud of thick black smoke billowing up in North Burnaby Tuesday morning had some residents on social media thinking the Brentwood mall was on fire.
Burnaby firefighters were called to the 4300 block of Rosser Avenue for reports of a building fire just after 11:50 a.m., according to assistant fire Chief Gavin Summers
At the scene, however, they discovered the black cloud had come from a southbound train that had just exited the south end of the Thornton Tunnel south of Dawson Street near Rosser Avenue, he said, and the firefighters returned to their stations.
Built in 1968, the 3.4-kilometre Thornton Tunnel runs beneath the Brentwood neighbourhood all the way to the Iron Workers Memorial Bridge.
It is an active, single-track freight railway tunnel owned and operated by Canadian National (CN).
A structure built to look like a house at the corner of Frances Street and Ingleton Avenue is actually a large ventilation shaft near the midway point of the tunnel.
The Burnaby NOW has reached out to CN to find out more about what caused the smoke and is waiting to hear back.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on X/Twitter @CorNaylor
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