FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) \u2014\u00a0Smoke billowed from every vantage point as an ominous plume of dark ash and soot filled the skies over Tracy Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Just before 2 pm, CAL FIRE reported a massive fire at the Medline Distribution Center, a medical supply warehouse located just south of Interstate 205 and west of Downtown Tracy.<\/p>\n
The path of the smoke could potentially drift toward Central California.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are definitely on alert,\u201d said Heather Heinks. She works as the Outreach and Communications Manager at the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.<\/p>\n
Officials with the Valley Air District got ahead of the smoke\u2019s impact and sent a team from its Modesto office.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have an inspector on site at the incident, we have a forecasting team and meteorologist watching all the feedback that\u2019s coming, and we\u2019re actually deploying a monitor into that area so that we can get a little bit more real-time information on site,\u201d Heather Heinks, San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District<\/p>\n
That information will be crucial in determining the air quality closer to home.<\/p>\n
The information recorded by the portable on-site monitor will then feed into the Valley Air District\u2019s main system. It will provide up-to-date information for those checking the \u201cAir Now\u201d app.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, just two hours after the first flames were spotted, air district officials recorded moderate levels in Fresno County, with an AQI of 93.<\/p>\n
That index is the universal measurement for air quality.<\/p>\n
Those levels could change to unhealthy for sensitive groups overnight as conditions evolve.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can potentially expect to wake up to a smoky smell, depending on where that plume goes,\u201d said Heinks.<\/p>\n
Air quality officials said the Valley is entering its Ozone season, which could be worsened by the threat of fire.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you add to it a wildfire or a local fire source, a warehouse fire, now you\u2019re introducing particulate matter pollution. It\u2019s a bit of a double whammy. You got the potential from ozone creation and the heat, and the influence of particulate matter from smoke in the air,\u201d said Heinks.<\/p>\n
The message from air quality officials: stay ready.<\/p>\n
\u201cCheck on grandma, check on sensitive receptors, make sure you stay hydrated and certainly go into a space where the air is filtered if you can,\u201d =Heather Heinks<\/p>\n
For those with respiratory conditions, Valley Air Quality recommends using in-home purifiers and limiting time spent outdoors.<\/p>\n
By ABC 30\u2019s Christina Lopez on X<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n