Firefighters are expected to continue working through the night as investigators examine what caused the blaze, as well as why water was not reaching parts of the building’s fire suppression system.
Brian Bagley, deputy chief of the South San Joaquin County Fire Authority, said Friday evening that crews had made “tremendous progress” after battling the fire in 95-degree heat, sustained winds over 15 mph and low humidity — perfect conditions to stoke a large blaze.
“There is no saving the building,” Bagley said.
Three other fires connected to the incident had been brought under control and extinguished by Friday evening, Bagley said. They included a fire at the adjacent FedEx facility and two grass fires, one near the airport and one on Lambert Road.
The warehouse fire began Thursday afternoon at the Medline Industries distribution facility in the 5700 block of Promontory Parkway. The warehouse became engulfed and sent a large column of smoke into the air that was visible across San Joaquin County and adjacent areas.
The water problems complicated the initial attack and forced crews to rely on longer hose lines from the municipal water system instead of the facility’s hydrants and sprinkler system.
The first crews to arrive on scene found little to no water coming from the first hydrant to which they connected, Bagley said. The fire marshal went to the fire pump room and found the pump running, but the gauge read zero, indicating water was not being delivered effectively to the sprinkler system or the yard hydrants.
To get water on the fire, engine companies connected to the municipal water supply using hose lines that extended as far as 1,600 feet, Bagley said.
The cause of the water issue and the condition of the fire suppression system are part of the investigation. Bagley said the building’s suppression system is tested by a third-party company selected by the building’s owner or occupant, with fire authority inspectors present to witness and sign off that testing was completed according to standards.
Possible contaminants raised concerns in the air and on the ground
Bagley said crews were flowing about 4,000 gallons of water per minute from four master stream devices, including two ground monitors and two aerial master streams. He estimated firefighters had used millions of gallons of water over about 10 hours Friday.
Fire operations were expected to continue through the night as crews continue to work hot spots and rotate in replacement firefighters, Bagley said.
Water running off the facility is being captured through bioswales built into the property’s stormwater system. Bioswales are landscaped drainage areas designed to slow, collect and filter stormwater runoff before it moves elsewhere. If that system reaches capacity, runoff is expected to flow to an additional privately owned detention basin within the International Park of Commerce, the large industrial and logistics park in southwest Tracy where the Medline facility is located.
Bagley said environmental health and public health officials are expected to conduct water sampling for possible contamination, though that had not happened as of the Friday evening briefing. Hazardous materials crews were working with county, state and federal agencies, including the San Joaquin County Office of Emergency Services, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, public health officials and the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.
Crews have also removed about 10 to 15 tractors and trailers from the property Friday after hazardous materials teams determined they could be safely moved. The vehicles went through a large-scale decontamination process, similar to a car wash, before leaving the site. The water used during that decontamination was retained on-site and did not enter the municipal storm drain system.
Smoke from the Medline fire had also decreased by Friday evening. Plume modeling showed favorable wind conditions that were keeping the smoke column about half a mile from residential areas, and the smoke was lighter and traveling a shorter distance than it had Friday morning.
The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District said Friday that temporary monitors near the fire had not detected significant ground-level pollution from the plume. Health experts, however, said residents should continue to avoid smoke and watch for symptoms even when public air-quality readings appear good or moderate.
Tracy Mayor Dan Arriola said some parts of the city had moderate air-quality concerns and urged residents to check AirNow.gov for current information.
The city had also begun street sweeping debris left by the fire, Arriola said. Residents should not touch debris near their homes until officials provide further guidance.
“We are working with the County Office of Emergency Services to see what the best guidelines are,” Arriola said. “Updated public guidance will be posted through SJReady.org.”
Cause remain under investigation
The fire remains under investigation by the agency’s fire marshal and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Arriola thanked the fire, police and emergency response agencies that assisted Tracy during the incident, calling the response a coordinated effort across multiple partner agencies.
“The city of Tracy is very resilient,” Arriola said. “We are so thankful for our law enforcement, fire, public health partners, and we know that we’ll get through this together.”
For workers displaced by the fire, Arriola encouraged residents to seek county employment resources through SJCWorkNet.org.
The OSHA inspection database shows Medline facilities in California have been inspected 11 times since June 2021, including several inspections tied to the Promontory Parkway facility in Tracy. Two previous Tracy inspections listed violations.
The records do not indicate that those violations were related to Thursday’s fire, and authorities have not announced a cause.