Approximately 40,000 people in Southern California were ordered to leave their homes as emergency crews scrambled to prevent a massive tank of hazardous chemicals from leaking or exploding.
Residents in six cities within Orange County were told to evacuate on Friday, after a 7,000-gallon (26,500-liter) tank of methyl methacrylate – a highly flammable chemical used in plastic manufacturing – began failing on Thursday night.
The tank was one of three at the GKN Aerospace facility in Garden Grove, about 30 miles (49 km) from Los Angeles. GKN Aerospace manufactures parts for several airlines, including Airbus and Boeing.
Orange County Fire Authority Commander Craig Covey said the tank could rupture, causing chemicals to spill onto the ground and create a toxic cloud, or explode.
“That is the best-case scenario, oddly enough, because when the material spills out, it no longer has the risk of explosion, and the hazmat teams in suits can go in and neutralize and mitigate the vapors from the spill site,” Covey said.
“The other option that was presented to us was explosion. Those are the two things we’re looking at: either the tank spills, or the tank explodes.”
Firefighters were able to cool the tank from a safe distance, buying time for response teams to stabilize the situation.
Garden Grove Police Chief Amir El-Farra said more than 4,000 people had refused to evacuate. Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein urged those still in the area to leave immediately.
“We understand this creates concern for people’s homes, businesses, pets and families. But this is a serious situation, and now is not the time to hesitate,” she said.
More than a dozen schools also closed, with officials cautioning they did not know how long the evacuation order would last.
