Authorities ordered the evacuation of approximately 40,000 residents in Garden Grove, California, on Friday after a chemical tank at an aerospace manufacturing facility showed signs of imminent failure.
The 34,000-gallon tank, located at GKN Aerospace, contains volatile methyl methacrylate, a chemical used in plastic manufacturing that is highly toxic, flammable, and explosive.
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Orange County Fire Authority Division Chief Craig Covey said the tank could either leak about 6,000 to 7,000 gallons of hazardous chemicals or undergo a thermal runaway and explode, potentially igniting nearby fuel and chemical tanks.
Emergency crews used a mechanical device to spray water on the facility, stabilizing internal temperatures from a safe distance.
No chemical vapors have been detected in the air so far, officials said.
Evacuation and Shelter Details
Three temporary evacuation shelters were established in Anaheim, Cypress, and Garden Grove.
Local police reported that about 15 percent of residents within the danger zone initially refused to leave.
More than a dozen regional schools closed or suspended outdoor activities. The California Governor's Office of Emergency Services deployed specialized personnel to coordinate the response.
Covey emphasized that the threat was not precautionary.
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"This is gonna happen unless some brilliant guy behind me here figures out how we can mitigate this incident.
This thing is gonna fail -- we don't know when," he said.
A specialized task force of local, regional, and national experts was assembled to find a technical solution.
Firefighters used a continuous water curtain to keep the tank temperature steady, buying time for engineers.
"I have an entire team actively working locally, regionally, across the state, and across the country, to try to figure out how to fix this," Covey said.
Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong of the Orange County Health Care Agency warned that an explosion would aerosolize the chemical, posing severe respiratory risks.
"You are safe as long as you are out of the zone that was determined to be an evacuation zone," she said.
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The Orange County Fire Authority scheduled its next operational briefing for Saturday morning.
