{"id":329365,"date":"2026-05-23T13:08:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T13:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/329365\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T13:08:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T13:08:15","slug":"40000-people-under-evacuation-orders-for-a-chemical-tank-leak-in-southern-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/329365\/","title":{"rendered":"40,000 people under evacuation orders for a chemical tank leak in Southern California"},"content":{"rendered":"

Authorities in Southern California on Friday were racing to figure out how to prevent the explosion of a storage tank that has been leaking a hazardous chemical used to make plastic parts, as some 40,000 people were under evacuation orders in the area.<\/p>\n

A storage tank holding between 6,000 and 7,000 gallons (22,700 and 26,500 liters) of methyl methacrylate overheated Thursday and began venting vapors into the air at an aerospace plastics facility in Garden Grove, a city in Orange County, the local fire authority said.<\/p>\n

The tank could fail and crack, releasing the chemical onto the ground, or it could explode, Orange County Fire Authority Division Chief Craig Covey said Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis thing is going to fail, and we don\u2019t know when,\u201d Covey said. \u201cWe\u2019re doing our best to figure out when or how we can prevent it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Officials ordered residents in Garden Grove to leave and expanded evacuation orders Friday to some residents of five other Orange County cities \u2014 Cypress, Stanton, Anaheim, Buena Park and Westminster \u2014 after being unable to stop the leak overnight on the tank at GKN Aerospace, which makes parts for commercial and military aircraft.<\/p>\n

No injuries or deaths have been reported, authorities said.<\/p>\n

In an update later Friday, Covey said authorities have been able to maintain the tank\u2019s temperature, buying time to figure out how to fix it.<\/p>\n

Garden Grove is about 38 miles (61 kilometers) south of downtown Los Angeles and less than a mile from Disneyland\u2019s two theme parks, which were not under evacuation orders Friday. The city is known for its vibrant Vietnamese community, one of the largest of any U.S. city.<\/p>\n

Danny Pham said he was deep in a dream when his roommate banged on his door around 7 a.m. Friday morning and told him he needed to leave immediately. Pham had been working late the night before at a Vietnamese restaurant and had not seen the news.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was shocking to me,\u201d said Pham, who lives only a couple blocks from the plastics plant. \u201cI didn\u2019t know how serious it would be. I never knew that a thing like this could happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

He left minutes later, grabbing only his wallet and passport, and took shelter at a friend\u2019s restaurant in a neighboring city.<\/p>\n

By late Friday afternoon, Pham was still trying to figure out where he would stay the night and worrying that he had only the clothes on his back, possibly for days to come.<\/p>\n

Covey said crews have created containment barriers with sandbags in case there is a chemical spill from the tank to prevent the toxic chemical from getting into storm drains or reaching creeks or the nearby ocean.<\/p>\n

Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong, the county health officer, said if the chemical heats up, it can release a vapor that is harmful to people\u2019s health. It can cause respiratory issues, itching and burning eyes, nausea and headaches.<\/p>\n

\tRecommended<\/p>\n

\"MS<\/p>\n

\u00a9\u00a02026 Versant Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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