Officials say sprinklers at California medical equipment warehouse didn't work during blaze

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Firefighters responding to a blaze that destroyed a massive medical equipment warehouse in Northern California that was still burning a day later were hindered by sprinklers and hydrants that weren't working, authorities said Friday.

The 1 million-square-foot (93,000-square-meter) warehouse in Tracy, a city about 55 miles (88.5 kilometers) east of San Francisco, supplied medical equipment to area hospitals. It's owned by Medline, a major medical-surgical products provider of medical equipment such as latex gloves, masks, surgical instruments.

Smoke billowed Friday from the blaze that sent embers flying for miles, as firefighters continued to put out hot spots and city crews cleaned debris from nearby streets.

Authorities said they don’t yet know why the water system failed during the blaze but it appeared to be a problem with the facility’s system, not city supply.

Local fire codes generally require large warehouses to have hydrants and sprinklers and ensure both are functioning, said Brian O'Connor, a licensed fire protection engineer with the National Fire Protection Association.

“If you have a large facility, it can be difficult for firefighters to stretch a hose from the closest public hydrant to the building,” he said.

Crews responding to the blaze that broke out around 1 p.m. Thursday encountered flames on the roof and noticed no water coming out of the building's sprinklers, Tracy Deputy Fire Chief Brian Bagley said. A fire official found a pump was pushing little to no water through both the sprinklers and on-site hydrants, he said.

Firefighters were forced to try to connect to city hydrants instead. The building was engulfed by fire within 40 minutes, Bagley said.

"It’s very, very challenging,” Bagley told reporters. “You can imagine it's a skyscraper laying on its side.”

He said firefighters have gained ground on the blaze they are battling in windy and low humidity conditions with temperatures that reached 95 degrees Friday.

“The density and the volume of smoke has changed drastically from this morning. The smoke is a lot lighter and not quite traveling as far,” he said, adding that the wind was helping the smoke move away from residential areas.

The facility was evacuated, and no one was injured. The massive warehouse was one of more than 50 distribution centers across the country for Medline, which according to its online catalog sells bandages, wheelchairs, catheters, hospital beds and many other medical supplies.

It is not clear what exactly was stored at the Tracy warehouse but the company said in a statement that it was mainly serving Northern California hospitals and that following the fire, it activated a contingency plan.

“Product distribution previously supported by the Tracy facility has been reassigned and it is in the process of being deployed to other facilities within our regional network to help maintain service and support customer needs,” Medline said.

Bagley said crews on Friday were trying to give drivers access to the property to remove trailers loaded with medical equipment that were not affected by the fire.

Mary Massey, who is in charge of the hospital preparedness program at the California Hospital Association, said it was too early to know the impact on medical supplies for regional hospitals but that most medical service providers have cooperation agreements to get urgent supplies if needed.

“We write plans for these kinds of things and we work together, not just hospitals, but also clinics, long-term care, dialysis, public health, ambulances. We all work together,” she said.

Embers from the blaze sparked two grass fires, and set pallets and multiple big rig trailers at a nearby FedEx facility ablaze. Firefighters were able to knock those fires down.

Crews overnight had to contend with new fires in trailers that were loaded with supplies.

Bagley said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives would help investigate the cause of the blaze, but authorities would probably not be able to get into the warehouse for at least a couple of more days. The sprinkler system had been tested in January by an outside company and no issues were found, Bagley said.

Fire officials were still working on Friday to gather additional information about inspections of the warehouse's water systems, said Nicole Boswell, a spokesperson for the fire department. She said local fire officials also conduct annual inspections of businesses, including their water systems, but she did not know what the fire department found during their recent inspection of the warehouse.

The warehouse is in a massive industrial park that also houses fulfillment and distribution centers for Amazon, Home Depot and FedEx.

Bagley recommended people near the fire stay indoors but said air quality tests had not raised any “grave concerns.”