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

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TRACY, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters responding to a blaze that destroyed a massive medical equipment warehouse in Northern California and sent embers flying for miles 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 equipment such as latex gloves, masks, surgical instruments and other medical supplies.

Thick black smoke billowed Friday from the site, as firefighters continued to put out hot spots.

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. The blaze broke out around 1 p.m. Thursday. Crews found the building's sprinkler system wasn't working and hydrants on the property lacked water pressure, Tracy Deputy Fire Chief Brian Bagley said. A fire official found little or no water was flowing through either system, he said.

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

“We did a defensive approach at that point,” he said.

The facility had been 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 facility but the company said in a statement that the warehouse 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.

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.

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

No homes were evacuated. Bagley recommended people near the fire stay indoors but said air quality tests had not raised any “grave concerns.”