Following the hazmat incident in Garden Grove, the Red Cross has opened shelters at several locations to support residents impacted by the event.
While some of the shelters are no longer accepting overnight guests due to reaching near or full capacity, all of them are open for health services, hygiene supplies, food, device charging, and other essential needs.
Los Alamitos High School, at 3591 W Cerritos Ave., Los Alamitos, CA 90720, is open to overnight guests and their pets.
Golden West College at 15744 Goldenwest St, Huntington Beach, CA 92647, made room for more guests to stay overnight, too, but pets are not allowed currently.
The other shelters are at either full or near capacity, but residents and their pets can come in to take care of their needs.
These shelters are Los Amigos High School (16566 Newhope St, Fountain Valley, CA 92708), John F. Kennedy High School (8281 Walker St., La Palma, CA 90623), Savanna High School (301 N Gilbert St, Anaheim, CA 92801), Oceanview High School (17071 Gothard St, Huntington Beach, CA 92647), and Freedom Hall at 16801 Euclid St, Fountain Valley, CA 92708.
Interested residents can visit a shelter or call the Red Cross at 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767) if they have any questions or want information.
Garden Grove Hazmat Incident
On May 23, 2026, California Governor Gavin Newsom released a press release declaring a state of emergency for Garden Grove in Orange County.
Tens of thousands of residents in Garden Grove, Stanton, Anaheim, Cypress, Westminster, and Buena Park were issued evacuation orders.
The order was issued following a “hazardous chemical incident at an aerospace facility.”
The aerospace facility is located in Garden Grove, about 35 miles southeast of Los Angeles. It has a tank that has been at risk of either exploding or spilling thousands of gallons of methyl methacrylate, a flammable and volatile chemical utilized in plastic production, per a BBC report.
The tank has experienced several swift heat increases, prompting emergency crews to spray it with water to lower the temperature or slow the speed of increasing heat.
State fire officials have said that there is “currently no active leak” despite a crack forming on the tank.
But Craig Covey, Orange County Fire Authority division chief, told BBC that he and other officials have been crafting “very aggressive plans” just in case the tank does fully fail or explode.
The Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) has expressed hope that the discovered crack could “potentially be relieving some of the pressure.”
But after the OCFA conducted a “successful operation” wherein officials can now visualize the tank, the department has started to work on plans to contain the crack.
This is according to a video posted by the interim fire chief for the OCFA, TJ McGovern, on X.