Questions remain around potential toxins days after Tracy warehouse fire

Crews remained at the site of the Tracy warehouse fire on Monday as the property continued to smolder in some areas.

Four days out and questions remain about what was inside the large clouds of smoke. Fire officials say crews receive a list of hazardous materials before entering situations like this, but that list doesn't answer what toxins entered the air.

"When things burn, they sometimes don't always get consumed completely, and so there's going to be some byproducts and incomplete combustion," Tracy Fire Deputy Chief Brian Bagley said.

As of Monday night, Bagley said everything from the cause of the fire to issues with the building's fire suppression system remains under investigation.

An excavation company was given the green light Sunday morning to begin removing exterior walls. This will allow firefighters to get better access and extinguish any hot spots.

Medline Industries goes up in flames

Tracy Fire Chief Randall Bradley said crews responded to the Medline Industries warehouse along Promontory Parkway around 1 p.m. on Thursday. Crews found heavy fire coming from the roof of the 1-million-square-foot building.

The fire quickly extended across the roof and into the facility, and crews were not able to contain the fire before it engulfed the entire building within 30 to 40 minutes, Bradley said.

Multiple explosions had been heard, with Bradley confirming they came from truck tires and medical products inside. Bradley said officials were in the process of reviewing the products that were housed inside the facility at the time of the fire.

There were no reports of injuries.

"A 1 million-square-foot fire is an extremely rare fire, not only in California but in the United States, and so, this is a unique fire for us and we expect to be here for a couple of days," Bradley said.

Medline Industries confirmed that all employees and on-site personnel were accounted for. The company's website says it is the largest provider of medical-surgical products to all points of care.

"Our priority right now is supporting our Tracy team," Medline CEO Jim Boyle said in a post on LinkedIn. "We're providing on-site assistance, resources and ongoing communication as we work through next steps together."

Sutter Health said it was among a number of health systems monitoring the Medline fire closely.

"At this time, we do not anticipate broad impacts. Our supply chain teams have contingency plans in place to maintain access to critical supplies," Sutter Health said in a statement.

Some medical equipment supply saved

Officials said the fire at the warehouse continued to burn into Friday, with crews working overnight to put out hot spots.

Firefighters also worked to protect trailers loaded with medical equipment and supplies that were threatened by windblown embers.

Officials said Friday that crews were working on a plan to move medical supplies loaded onto trucks that were not damaged by the fire so they could be sent to hospitals.

"This devastating fire is going to affect the commerce throughout the nation ... as this was the main distribution center for all medical supplies," Tracy Fire Deputy Chief Brian Bagley said at a Friday press conference.

Fire officials also confirmed there were hazardous materials inside the building. A hazardous materials team was reviewing a list of materials stored at the warehouse to determine any additional concerns.

Among the items destroyed were several hundred robots powered by lithium batteries that were used to load shelves inside the warehouse, officials said.

Bagley said the fire was the largest he has managed in his 20 years in the fire service. Officials said only two or three similar fires involving buildings of this kind have happened nationwide.

Water supply issues limit initial fire attack

Crews battling the fire were initially met with water supply issues that limited their efforts to put out the flames.  

Bradley said it was unclear whether the sprinkler system inside the facility was operating properly when they arrived at the facility. 

"We had a good, aggressive interior fire attack, and the sprinklers were not operating, so we'll have to find out what happened to the water supply," he said.

Bradley said crews attempted to use fire hydrants within the facility, but noted that they lacked adequate pressure.

"Things worked against us," Bradley said. "Again, water supply issues, low humidity, high winds and high temperatures. It was a little bit of the perfect storm for this fire evolving quickly."

Bradley later added that the facility's fire suppression system — which includes hydrants, pumps and alarms — had gone through inspection as recently as January, but said part of the investigation will be to determine why the hydrants weren't operating as they should have.

Fire crews have been using fire hydrants located outside of the facility. Water pressure throughout the city remains stable and is supporting firefighters, the city said.

A video obtained from an employee of the warehouse appears to show the moment the fire started near the ceiling of the facility. Despite the flames, the video shows that the building's sprinkler system was not activated at that time.

Medline fire spreads to outside areas

The fire spread to a large pile of pallets and multiple big rig trailers outside the FedEx facility to the south. The exterior of the building caught fire, but crews contained the fire before the building was engulfed. 

"We are aware of the fire near our Tracy hub but have confirmed that the fire has not reached our facility. Our top priority remains the safety of our team and those affected," FedEx said in a statement.

There have been multiple spot fires in the area of Schulte Road and Larch Road, and near the Tracy Municipal Airport. All three fires were contained and no homes were evacuated.

Bradley said multiple monitoring stations have been set up, and as of Thursday night, there was no indication that any protective measures to the surrounding communities, like evacuation orders, needed to be put in place.

The Valley Air District and the San Joaquin County Office of Emergency Services both urged community members to remain indoors, to close windows and to bring pets inside.

"Sensitive individuals, including children, older adults, and those with heart or lung conditions, should take extra precautions," the Valley Air District said.

The area where the fire is burning is home to several large distribution warehouses, including those from companies like Amazon and FedEx. It is about eight miles west of Tracy's city center.

Amazon told CBS News Sacramento that it is following direction from local authorities "out of an abundance of caution."

Tracy declares a local emergency

In response to the massive fire, the City of Tracy declared a local state of emergency on Thursday evening.

In declaring a local emergency, the city will be able to request assistance from the state and federal levels as well as activate pre-established emergency provisions, according to the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal-OES).

Gov. Gavin Newsom's press office said the governor was briefed on the fire and said resources from Cal OES and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) were sent in to support the response.

The Tracy Fire Department had already been receiving mutual aid from other agencies. Crews estimate about 200 fire personnel are at the scene, along with 100 additional support personnel to cover the grass fires and the FedEx fire.

People are asked to avoid Promontory Parkway in the area of Hansen Road.   

The size of the fire's smoke plume signaled immediate concern

Tracy Police Sgt. Michael Richards said he has experience responding to major fires, including the 2018 Camp Fire as a mutual aid responder and other wildfires. Once he saw the black plume of smoke in the Tracy sky, he said he "knew this was very serious."

Richards noted he was grateful that there have been no reported injuries.

"It's going to take a little while, but as long as nobody's hurt, we can fix everything else," Richards said.

Tracy is about 30 miles southwest of Stockton in the northern San Joaquin Valley.