Fire at California warehouse complex prompts evacuations as authorities fight blaze

No injuries reported as fire in Tracy destroys medical equipment warehouse and authorities investigate cause

A fire at a 1m sq ft warehouse complex was burning out of control in California early Friday as authorities fought to tamp the large blaze and began investigating the cause.

The raging inferno was pumping thick black smoke up in billowing clouds as flame and a red hot glow were visible beneath from aerial images. The fire has destroyed the medical equipment warehouse in Tracy, in northern California, and prompted evacuations of other nearby facilities, with no injuries reported.

The fire ignited on Thursday afternoon at the large distribution center for Medline, a major medical-surgical products provider in Tracy, about 55 miles east of San Francisco. It spread across the street into a FedEx facility, where crews were able to block it, according to fire chief Randall Bradley, of the South San Joaquin county fire authority.

Officials had evacuated a large portion of the area as the wind heightened the risk of spreading embers, said Sgt Michael Richards, from the city’s police department. No homes had been evacuated by early Friday. The enormous warehouse is in a large industrial park that also houses fulfilment and distribution centers for Amazon, Home Depot and FedEx. Medline said all its employees and other personnel at the site were accounted for, the Associated Press reported.

“We are coordinating closely with local authorities and first responders as we assess the fire’s impact and will share more details as they become available,” a spokesperson for the company said in a statement.

Medline is a supplier of latex gloves, masks, surgical instruments and other medical supplies that was key during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Officials are evaluating air quality and possible impacts to residents of the area, said Dan Arriola, Tracy’s mayor. Officials are also investigating what started the fire. It was exacerbated by low humidity, high temperatures and strong wind, Bradley said.

A sprinkler system that appeared to be broken and low water pressure in hydrants at the facility hindered the firefight, Bradley said. The issues appeared to be with the warehouse’s, not the city’s, water system.

The Associated Press contributed reporting