Authorities in a Northern California community are advising residents who are vulnerable to smoke exposure to remain inside their homes while emergency crews continue fighting a massive blaze at a medical supply warehouse that has been raging since Thursday.
The fire at the Medline facility in Tracy has created air quality conditions rated as “unhealthy” on the southern portion of the city, home to approximately 100,000 residents, based on readings from air quality monitoring equipment.
South San Joaquin County Fire Authority Fire Chief Randall Bradley indicated in a public statement that crews anticipate smoky conditions will persist for several more days as they work to extinguish the flames inside the structure.
“The local fire marshal was investigating, and officials are meeting with company representatives, structural engineers and others to assess the building,” Bradley said.
Arrangements are being developed to allow workers to collect their cars from the location. Fire officials are also warning residents to stay away from the vicinity and avoid handling any debris that may have scattered from the incident.
The company manufactures and distributes medical and surgical supplies including protective gloves made of latex, face coverings, and surgical tools.
The fire at the massive facility, spanning 1 million square feet and located roughly 55 miles east of San Francisco, has sent burning debris across a wide area.
Emergency responders have faced significant challenges due to malfunctioning sprinkler equipment and fire hydrants that provided minimal or no water flow. Officials determined the issue stemmed from problems with the building’s internal fire prevention systems rather than municipal water infrastructure.
An independent contractor had tested the sprinkler equipment in January and found no problems at that time, according to fire officials.
