Authorities are working to prevent a potential hazmat explosion in Southern California, where an estimated 40,000 people were under evacuation orders.<\/p>\n
Fire officials face a rare situation in which they are unable to control the valves on an industrial tank at an aerospace manufacturing facility in Garden Grove. The tank, filled with a volatile and toxic chemical, is threatening to explode or leak.<\/p>\n
Craig Covey, the Orange County Fire Authority incident commander at the scene, said Friday that experts from around the country have submitted \u201coutside-the-box\u201d ideas, some of which fire personnel hope to try out overnight, to prevent a potential disaster.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not OK with me just to sit back and watch this thing blow up or fail,\u201d he said in a Friday evening update. <\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMore than 40,000 in Garden Grove have are under evacuation orders due to dangerous chemical tank leak. Amber Frias reports for NBC4 at 3 p.m. on May 22, 2026.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Initial evacuation orders were issued Thursday after a \u201cvapor release\u201d at the manufacturing site in Garden Grove. The situation seemed to be stable, but on Friday, the valves on a tank became inoperable, the Orange County Fire Authority said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are setting up these evacuations in preparation for these two options: it fails or it blows up,\u201d Covey said.<\/p>\n
Covey said in a video update late Friday afternoon that the tank\u2019s temperature has been stabilized by a curtain of sprayed water, reducing its volatility and buying time for a potential, long-term fix. <\/p>\n
Efforts to lower the temperature appeared to be helping Friday night.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s down to a temperature around 61 degrees, with 50 being its happy place,\u201d he said in a video update around 8 p.m. local time.<\/p>\n
The lower temperatures might allow fire personnel to get closer to the tank overnight to implement some of the ideas submitted to authorities, he said.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAt one point, the tank reached at least 95 degrees. Hetty Chang reports for the NBC4 News at 8 p.m. on Friday, May 22, 2026.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Overnight, Covey said, a \u201cfull nightshift\u201d was assigned to the incident, and an update will be provided Saturday morning.<\/p>\n
The high temperature Friday for Garden Grove was 74, and its morning low was 61, according to National Weather Service data. <\/p>\n
The tank contains methyl methacrylate, a toxic chemical used to manufacture resins and plastics, including Plexiglass.<\/p>\n
In a video announcement,<\/a> Covey urged caution for people in the area of the leak, which includes parts of the cities of Garden Grove, Cypress, Stanton, Anaheim, Buena Park and Westminster.<\/p>\n Garden Grove is about 35 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a highly toxic substance,\u201d OCFA Division Chief Nick Freeman said at an afternoon news briefing. \u201cIt\u2019s extremely flammable and in its current state very reactive, and can cause that explosion.\u201d<\/p>\n The tank was not emitting the chemical on Friday, authorities said, and no injuries have been reported.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGKF Limited is based in England with 60,000 employees in 32 countries. The aerospace wing has sites all over the country, including three in California. Conan Nolan reports for the NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on Friday, May 22, 2026.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n The California Governor\u2019s Office of Emergency Services said it activated<\/a> the State Operations Center to support the local response to the hazardous materials incident. <\/p>\n Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong, the health officer of Orange County, said the emergency is unprecedented and it is difficult to predict an outcome.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a unique situation,\u201d she told reporters. \u201cWe don\u2019t have information of a similar situation where this happened, right? So we\u2019re going into unique times, and we have limited information.\u201d<\/p>\n