Chemicals including neurotoxin set ablaze in massive California warehouse fire

Public health officials are warning residents in San Joaquin County to take precautions after toxic chemicals were set ablaze at a massive warehouse fire in Tracy that began on Thursday. Thirty-five engines and 120 firefighting personnel responded to the inferno at the million-square-foot warehouse, authorities said. The fire gave off smoke so intense it could briefly be seen in space by NOAA satellites.

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San Joaquin County officials cautioned residents to remain indoors with the windows and doors shut if smoke is in the area, as the warehouse, which housed medical supplies for the company Medline, contained toxic materials and dangerous chemicals.

“Among the chemicals that were consumed in the Medline fire were an assortment of respiratory irritants, toxic gases, carcinogens, and at least one neurotoxin,” Dr. Maggie Park, public health officer for San Joaquin County Public Health Services, said in a statement. “If anyone in the vicinity of the smoke plumes inhaled the smoke and is experiencing sudden onset respiratory problems, headaches, dizziness, nausea, or throat irritation, they should report to their nearest emergency department for further evaluation and treatment.”

Onshore winds are expected to push smoke from the massive fire southward. Jamie Holt, the chief communications officer for the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, told SFGATE as of Friday morning the smoke is not currently causing poor air quality as it remains aloft and suspended in the atmosphere.

“We don’t have a crystal ball, but our forecasters are saying the smoke will dissipate and will get less intense and will slowly move to south, southeast to down to San Joaquin Valley,” she said.

Holt said the smoke is expected to remain east of the coastal range and not push into the Bay Area. If the smoke remains aloft, it will dissipate via “atmospheric mixing” and become “less of a health concern” as it moves, she explained.

Fire officials in the area said the blaze still presents a danger, as it is expected to burn for days. Brian Bagley, deputy chief of operations for the South San Joaquin County Fire Authority, said in a news conference Friday that after the fire broke out around 1 p.m. Thursday, fire crews had “challenges” accessing water via local yard hydrants.

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“Within 40 minutes the building was fully consumed with fire,” he said. Embers from the fire traveled up to 2.5 miles from the site and ignited two grass fires and a fire adjacent to a nearby FedEx facility. He also said semitruck trailers full of goods “were igniting all night long.”

Bagley said the fire’s size, which he compared to “a skyscraper on its side,” made firefighting efforts difficult. As winds pick up, Bagley said they are worried the blaze could spread again.

“Because of the weather that’s ensuing, and you can see the ember casting is still starting to pick up,” he told reporters, “that is of grave concern for us.”