Live updates: Officials call Tracy warehouse fire 1 of largest in US; could burn for days

A fire that destroyed the Tracy Medline distribution center left about 1,000 employees out of work and raised concerns about medical goods supply.

A massive fire that destroyed a medical distribution facility in Tracy has left about 1,000 employees out of work and raised concerns about the supply of critical medical goods, as officials and companies work to limit ongoing impacts.

The building and everything inside it were destroyed in the blaze, affecting the distribution of medical supplies across Northern California.

Officials said plans are in place to address both the supply disruptions and the employment fallout. On Friday morning, several semi trucks that were undamaged by the flames or smoke left the Medline facility carrying medical supplies, marking the first movement in or out of the site since the fire began.

Tracy Mayor Dan Arriola said the fire has created multiple challenges for the city.

"We're really proud of efforts of our law enforcement, fire and city staff have done to address the public safety impacts," Arriola said. "We are concerned about the public health impacts and we are working with California Air Resource Board to address those concerns as well. At this point, we're really concerned about the employees."

The Tracy facility serves as a local distribution center, primarily supporting Northern California, including Sutter Health in the Bay Area. A Sutter Health spokesperson said the system is monitoring the situation and has contingency plans in place.

In a statement, the spokesperson said, "like other health systems... we are closely monitoring the situation," and added, "At this time, we do not anticipate broad impacts."

While the outlook for medical supply distribution appears stable for now, the situation remains uncertain for workers displaced by the fire.

Antonio Talavera, an employee at the facility, said he has received limited information about next steps Thursday night when we spoke with him.

"My supervisor brought up something about the workers being distributed among nearby distributor centers," Talavera said. "But, other than that, we all kind of just in the dark right now."

Some employees may be reassigned to other facilities, while staffing agencies are working to help others find new jobs.

Employnet, a staffing and recruiting company in nearby Manteca, is connecting displaced workers with similar opportunities.

"The customer I've worked with, they do love folks that come from that industry, because their warehouse operations are very similar when it comes to their racking system -- you know, how they operate," said Mary Vasquez, a branch manager at Employnet. "So, this could definitely just be an easy transition for folks."

Employnet is assisting affected workers and can be reached at 209-645-6580 or manteca@employenet.com. City and county officials are also offering resources for impacted employees at sjcworknet.org.

The Tracy Medline warehouse's failed sprinkler and problems getting water out of the hydrants stalled firefighters' response, officials said.

A massive warehouse fire in Northern California is still burning more than 24 hours after the building exploded into flames on Thursday.

Officials say that a fire involving a 1-million-square-foot building like this has occurred only a few times in U.S. history.

Fire officials say it is still too hot for investigators to go inside for at least a few more days. The warehouse's sprinkler system failed and there were problems getting water out of the hydrants. That all stalled firefighters' efforts to knock this fire down.

"It's very, very challenging. You can imagine, it's a skyscraper laying on its side," said Deputy Chief Brian Bagley with the Tracy Fire Department.

Bagley said Thursday's Medline warehouse fire is one of the largest warehouse fires in U.S. history. Over 1 million square feet burned.

Once on site, firefighters faced immediate water challenges.

"When our crews were engaging in the firefight, they did not recognize any fire sprinkler activations at all, throughout the entire facility. And they were in there for a solid 10 minutes trying to knock down the fire," Bagley said. "And the fire spread laterally from all the high-rack piles storage very, very quickly. Which if there were sprinkler systems activated, that would not run that fast, so. And they did see any actual water on the inside."

Fire officials say the warehouse sprinkler system passed a mandated inspection in January. But when the fire marshal arrived on scene, he checked out the fire pump room -- which gets water to all the sprinkler heads -- and found more problems.

"That was reading at zero. So, we knew there was no water flowing -- which all of that fire pump also supplies the yard hydrants directly adjacent within the facility itself," Bagley said. "So, we were limited to no water coming out of those hydrants."

The Medline warehouse manufactures, stores and distributes critical medical and surgical supplies for hospitals, nursing homes and clinics. Fire officials say various chemicals and hazardous materials are stored here -- they all caught fire, which may be another reason why the fire spread so quickly.

The facility also uses several hundred state-of-the-art robots; their lithium-ion batteries raise more concerns.

"And so, all of that all burned. And lithium-ion batteries that get destroyed by fire end up causing hydrogen fluoride gas, and that's not good," Bagley said.

Given the massive size of the fire, and its intensity, Bagley said aerials drops, as seen in wildfires, wouldn't have been effective.

"Those are very effective for light, flashy fuels. They don't burn very long, but they burn very rapidly. The materials, or course of this type of construction here -- distribution center -- is very robust. So, in order to penetrate, it is a lot of water that it takes," he said.

Officials say this fire will likely impact hospitals across the country, since this is the main distribution center. Medline says it has set up a command center and is working on contingency plans to get medical supplies to the hospitals.

At a press conference Friday evening, Tracy officials said the density and volume of the smoke in the area have changed drastically since the fire first broke out at the Medline distribution center Thursday afternoon.

At a press conference Friday evening, Tracy officials said the density and volume of the smoke in the area have changed drastically since the fire first broke out at the Medline distribution center Thursday afternoon.

The color of the smoke is lighter than the original black plumes from the day before and even the darker shades from hours earlier, according to Deputy Chief Brian Bagely with Tracy Fire. Bagely also noted that the smoke was not traveling as far in the later hours, noting that favorable wind directions were keeping the fire away from nearby homes.

Fire crews are said to be using water to extinguish the flames at about 4,000 gallons per minute, with the excess water being captured by local bio-swales and other capture structures. Environmental specialists are expected to conduct water sampling to detect any toxins in storm drains.

Mayor Dan Arriola said the city is planning to conduct street sweeping to address debris from the fire. Residents are urged not to touch any debris they see.

The city is also working closely with local agencies to monitor the air quality. Arriola noted that "portions of the city have moderate areas of concerns for air quality."

Residents can get the latest air quality information here.

Watch the full update in the player above.

Firefighters described the Medline distribution warehouse fire as one of the worst fires of its kind during a press conference Monday as smoke continued to billow Friday morning.

Firefighters described the Medline distribution warehouse fire as one of the worst fires of its kind as smoke continued to billow Friday morning.

It's one of the largest warehouse fires in the U.S. with 900 people who are employed there but only 120 workers there.

"There's been distribution centers that have burned throughout our nation, but to have one, you know, over a million square feet, there's only been two or three that we are aware of, and so it's very, very challenging, you know, you can imagine it's a skyscraper laying on its side," said Brian Bagley, deputy chief with the Tracy Fire Department.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Officials said it started inside the facility, near the top of the roof. When crews arrived, they reported that fire sprinklers had not activated and that yard hydrants on site were not working. Firefighters instead connected to a municipal hydrant located off-site.

"It took two fire engines just to connect from the fire hydrant to get it close enough to apply water to the actual fire," Bagley said.

The adjacent FedEx facility almost caught fire, as officials say they quickly went into containment mode. There were several grass fires and 200 pallets against the FedEx facility caught fire, that were mitigated with the help of mutual aid.

The trailers mostly full of medical commodities adjacent to the building were also a challenge for firefighters overnight.

Fire officials said the building's sprinkler system was last inspected in January and was functioning at that time. Investigators are now working to determine why it failed during the fire.

Authorities also raised concerns about hazardous materials inside the warehouse. While a full inventory has not been released, officials said the building contained robots equipped with lithium-ion batteries.

"That all burned, and lithium ion batteries that, you know, get destroyed by fire end up causing, you know, hydrogen fluoride gas, and that's not good," Bagley said.

The Medline distribution center supplies medical goods across Northern California. Fire officials said they are working with the company to move trucks carrying unaffected supplies out of the area and on to their destinations as crews continue battling the fire.