sprinklers failed – Firefighters say sprinklers and hydrants at a Medline medical equipment warehouse in Tracy, California, weren’t working during a blaze that broke out Thursday afternoon and spread embers across the area. Authorities evacuated the facility, reported no injuries
Thick black smoke rose over Tracy on Friday as firefighters fought lingering hotspots from a warehouse blaze that had already raced through the building. The fire destroyed a massive medical equipment facility about 55 miles east of San Francisco, sending embers flying for miles.
Authorities said firefighters were slowed by a water system that didn’t function when it was needed most. They don’t yet know why the water system failed, but officials believe it was a problem with the facility’s system rather than the city supply.
The blaze broke out around 1 p.m. Thursday at a 1 million-square-foot warehouse in Tracy. The warehouse supplied medical equipment to area hospitals and is owned by Medline. a major medical-surgical products provider of equipment such as latex gloves. masks. surgical instruments and other medical supplies.
Tracy Deputy Fire Chief Brian Bagley said crews found the building’s sprinkler system wasn’t working and that hydrants on the property lacked water pressure. A fire official said they found little or no water flowing through either system. With the building engulfed by fire within 40 minutes, firefighters were forced to shift tactics and try connecting to city hydrants.
“We did a defensive approach at that point,” Bagley said.
The facility had been evacuated, and no one was injured.
While firefighters worked to contain the main blaze. embers from the fire sparked two grassfires and set pallets and multiple big rig trailers on fire at a nearby FedEx facility. Firefighters were able to knock those fires down. but crews overnight had to deal with new fires in trailers loaded with supplies.
Bagley said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives would help investigate the cause of the blaze. Authorities likely won’t be able to get into the warehouse for at least a couple of more days.
Investigators also focused on the question of whether the system had been operating properly before the fire. Bagley said the sprinkler system was tested in January by an outside company and no issues were found.
The warehouse sits in a large industrial park that also houses fulfillment and distribution centers for Amazon, Home Depot and FedEx. No homes were evacuated. Bagley recommended that people near the fire stay indoors, adding that air quality tests had not raised any “grave concerns.”
The timeline of the emergency keeps returning to one point: once the sprinkler system and on-site hydrants failed to deliver water. firefighters had to rely on a faster. different connection to the city hydrants—while the building was already burning fiercely enough to be engulfed in less than an hour.
Tracy California Medline warehouse fire sprinklers failed hydrants lacked water pressure medical equipment firefighting ATF investigation
So the sprinklers just didn’t work? That’s wild.
I don’t get how a warehouse that big has no working water when it matters. Like that’s literally the whole point of sprinklers and hydrants. Maybe the city supply was shut off or something.
They said it was the facility’s system not the city, but how do they even know that for sure yet? If it failed “when it was needed most,” that sounds like the pressure issue could’ve been everywhere. Also 40 minutes to engulf?? That feels like they were already behind.
This reminds me of those warehouses where they cut corners on maintenance because it’s “fine” until it’s not. If hydrants on the property had no pressure, why were they even there? And then embers going for miles… doesn’t help that it was near FedEx either. Hope Medline gets held accountable because this is medical supplies we’re talking about.