Emergency crews in California are working around the clock to prevent a potential disaster after authorities forced tens of thousands of residents from their homes due to a deteriorating chemical storage tank that could either rupture or explode.
The crisis began Thursday in Garden Grove, a community of approximately 172,000 residents located about 30 miles south of Los Angeles, when officials discovered a storage tank at an aerospace manufacturing facility was at risk of catastrophic failure.
Craig Covey, division chief of the Orange County Fire Authority, explained that firefighters have been continuously spraying the tanks with water using remote-controlled equipment to maintain safe temperatures and “buying us time,” according to a video he shared on social media.
The problematic storage container holds methyl methacrylate, a highly flammable and volatile substance used in plastic production and aerospace manufacturing, according to the Orange County Register.
In an earlier video message, Covey outlined the dire situation facing emergency responders, explaining that the tank could fail and release up to 7,000 gallons of toxic chemicals, or it could detonate and threaten additional storage tanks nearby.
“I know I keep talking about we were handed this situation where there’s only two things that can happen, it could crack and leak, or it could blow up. That’s not acceptable to us,” Covey stated in his later video update. “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 emphasized his determination to find a solution, saying his objective was to “get all these brilliant minds together to put a plan together, so that we don’t let this blow up.”
The evacuation threat escalated Friday when officials received updated information from the manufacturing company that increased explosion concerns, according to TJ McGovern, interim chief of the Orange County Fire Authority.
Garden Grove Police Chief Amir El-Farra reported that approximately 40,000 people live within the evacuation area, with roughly 15% declining to leave their homes, as noted by the Orange County Register.
Emergency management teams have established three temporary shelters – one within Garden Grove itself and additional facilities in the adjacent communities of Anaheim and Cypress.
Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong of the Orange County Health Care Agency warned that escaping vapors could cause serious breathing problems if people experience extended exposure, though air quality monitoring equipment has not yet detected any chemical vapors in the atmosphere.
“You are safe as long as you are out of the zone that was determined to be an evacuation zone,” Chinsio-Kwong assured residents.
