Month Later, Tracy Residents Still Swept Up in Medline Warehouse Debris

Nearly four weeks after the Medline warehouse fire turned Tracy neighborhoods into debris zones, residents are discovering that the cleanup isn’t actually clean—and patience is wearing thin.

When black debris started falling from the sky during the fire, it felt apocalyptic. Sukumar Maddinel remembers it vividly:“We saw some black things falling from the sky. That’s when it was really freaky.”Street sweepers rolled through the neighborhood, which seemed promising at first. But then reality set in. While some areas got a decent pass, others—particularly the Tracy Hills neighborhood—are still littered with remnants of the disaster. Maddinel estimates he’s found between 200 and 300 pieces scattered around his property alone.

Here’s the frustrating part: cleanup crews did show up to some homes, handling front yards and basic backyard work. But roofs? That’s apparently where the job stopped. Maddinel says they promised to return for the debris still clinging to his roof and keep falling after rain or wind. That was more than two weeks ago.“They never came back,”he said. Meanwhile, the debris keeps dropping from above like a slow-motion reminder that the crisis isn’t over.

Medline says they’re working with Clean Harbors, a third-party debris removal company, and as of July 8, crews have completed cleanup at more than 660 properties with 50 more in progress. Those numbers sound solid on paper. But for residents still finding debris on roofs and in yards, the pace feels glacial. Kim Defrancis, another Tracy resident, is more philosophical about it—grateful that Medline employees affected by the fire can work at nearby locations starting July 12.“It’s definitely pretty good that they’re able to do that so quickly and make sure that everyone can still work,”she said.

The takeaway? This fire’s impact goes way beyond the warehouse walls. Residents shouldering the cleanup burden now have a contact to use: Call the Clean Harbors hotline at (209) 751-1888, available weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. But for those on roofs still picking debris out of gutters, that number feels like a Band-Aid on a much bigger wound.