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<\/p>\nA leaking chemical tank is going to fail or explode in an \u201cunprecedented\u201d event that saw officials order thousands of Orange County residents to evacuate parts of six cities until it happens, authorities announced Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt that point, we know the tank is going into thermal runaway,\u201d Orange County Fire Authority Division Chief Craig Covey said during a news conference Friday. \u201cAnd we\u2019re going to pull everybody out of the area, make sure it\u2019s safe and let the tank do what it\u2019s going to do.\u201d <\/p>\n
The fire authority\u2019s hazardous materials response team began dousing the tanks at a Garden Grove facility Thursday, prompting an initial evacuation order that was lifted later that day. But on Friday morning, officials said a faulty valve and the inability to remove and neutralize the toxic chemical inside the tank had escalated the incident and left them certain that the large tank would, at some point, either fail, leaking thousands of gallons, or explode.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople need to get out of their houses and get into a safe space,\u201d Covey said. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
An Orange County Fire Department firefighter instructs a photographer to evacuate from the GKN Aerospace area on May 22, 2026, in Garden Grove. Emergency personnel responses to the hazardous materials incident began Thursday at the aerospace company.<\/p>\n
(Allen J. Schaben \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
Evacuations around the failing tank in Garden Grove expanded to include tens of thousands of residents in six Orange County cities: Garden Grove, Cypress, Stanton, Anaheim, Buena Park and Westminster. <\/p>\n
The tank, holding about 6,000 to 7,000 gallons of chemicals, was described as being \u201cin crisis\u201d Friday. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere are literally two options left remaining,\u201d Covey said. \u201cThe tank fails and spills a total of about [6,000] to 7,000 gallons of very bad chemicals into the parking lot in that area. Or, two, the tank goes into a thermal runaway and blows up, affecting the tanks around them that have fuel or chemicals in them as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the best-case scenario, because once it leaks, it\u2019s no longer at risk of exploding. From there, teams in hazardous material suits can go in and \u201cneutralize and mitigate the vapors that will be coming off of that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The worst-case scenario is an uncontrolled explosion, something so big that it would be something like \u201cif you ever seen videos of tank cars on a railroad track blowing up, and that fireball it puts out, and it blows half the tank car half a mile down the train track, that\u2019s the incident potential we are dealing with if this suffers a catastrophic failure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those were the options: \u201ca leaking tank or a tank that blows up,\u201d Covey said at a briefing Friday afternoon. \u201cThis is going to happen unless some guy behind me here figures out how we can mitigate this incident. This thing is going to fail. We don\u2019t know when.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the news conference Friday, Covey said officials have set up sandbags and taken other measures to attempt to contain the chemical if it spills, a situation that he described as the current best outcome. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve done our efforts to keep it from going into the storm drains,\u201d Covey said. \u201cIn a weird world, that\u2019s the best-case scenario, believe it or not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Officials expanded the evacuation zone Friday morning from Ball Road to the north, Trask Avenue to the south, Valley View Street to the west and Dale Avenue to the east.<\/p>\n
What are the health risks of an explosion?<\/p>\n
Methyl methacrylate, or MMA, is very toxic. Short-term exposure involving inhaling the chemical\u2019s vapors \u201ccan cause significant irritation in the lungs, the nasal passages, and it can also cause nausea and it can also cause dizziness,\u201d said Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong, the health officer of Orange County.<\/p>\n
At very high levels of exposure, \u201cit can really cause severe respiratory distress and hospitalization,\u201d Chinsio-Kwong said.<\/p>\n
The evacuation is large in part because of the potential of a plume of toxic vapors.<\/p>\n
Officials said the chemical is heavier than air, so it would settle and sink into the lower areas around that facility if there\u2019s an explosion. Officials are planning for the risk of the chemical blowing into other areas.<\/p>\n
Officials urged residents to adhere to the evacuation order for their safety. <\/p>\n
While there was no impact to the air on Friday afternoon, officials are continuing to monitor the situation. <\/p>\n
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency deployed stationary air monitors around the facility to measure levels of airborne chemicals. An EPA spokesperson did not immediately respond to an inquiry about whether those monitors had detected MMA, the chemical inside the tank.<\/p>\n
South Coast Air Quality Management District staff is also driving its air-monitoring van along the perimeter of the evacuation zone to collect real-time measurements and ensure there are no elevated levels of airborne chemicals in farther-flung areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis information is being shared directly with Orange County Fire Authority to help them assess conditions on the ground, confirm the safety of the current evacuation area, and determine whether any changes to the evacuation zone are necessary,\u201d said Nahal Mogharabi, a spokesperson for the air district.<\/p>\n
The air district is also tracking wind conditions and weather patterns which will be critical in determining what areas may be downwind in the event of a chemical release. As of Friday afternoon, the National Weather Service reported light southwesterly winds in the area.<\/p>\n
Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s media office wrote on X that he had been briefed on the chemical leak and that multiple state agencies have been coordinating with local authorities since Thursday night. <\/p>\n
The current plan, Covey said, was for hazmat crews to monitor the temperature of the tank. Officials have recognized a set temperature at which they will pull all crews away from the area. <\/p>\n
The tank will then either explode or leak as it expands, ripping the tank.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe understand that this is frightening,\u201d Garden Grove Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein said at the news conference. \u201cBut the evacuation orders are in place for your safety.\u201d <\/p>\n
The chemical leak also prompted the closure of several schools in the Garden Grove Unified School District on Friday, including Rancho Alamitos and Pacifica high schools.<\/p>\n