50,000 Residents Ordered to Evacuate As Pressurized Chemical Tank Threatens To Explode

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Residents of Garden Grove, Calif., are on edge as a failing pressurized tank filled with hazardous chemicals has forced a massive evacuation amid the Memorial Day weekend.

The emergency began Thursday, as a 34,000-gallon tank holding 6,000 to 7,000 gallons of methyl methacrylate at an aerospace plastics facility began venting toxic vapors into the air.

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Footage showed fire crews spraying the tank with water in attempts to cool and stabilize it, as Orange County Fire Authority Division Chief Craig Covey explained broken or “gummed up” valves prevented them from releasing the chemicals or relieving pressure in the tank.

“This thing is going to fail, and we don’t know when,” Covey said Friday, adding that drones were monitoring the tanks every 10 minutes for temperature changes. “We’re doing our best to figure out when or how we can prevent it.”

“Sitting back and allowing these tanks to fail is unacceptable,” Covey added. “Our goal is to protect your homes — no damage to them — and to protect the environment. Hopefully we can get that done before any failure in the tanks. I am not promising that we’re going to fix that, but I’m promising you we’re doing everything we can to give us a third option that does not involve damaging this community or damaging our environment.”

Fortunately, there have been no reports of injuries thus far, but officials warn that an explosion could cause “severe structural damage and significant harm” to surrounding chemical facilities, and would release toxic compounds into the air on par with the East Palestine train derailment disaster in 2023, albeit at a much smaller scale.

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On Saturday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) declared a state of emergency in Orange County and asked President Donald Trump to approve a federal emergency declaration to aid response efforts.

In an update Sunday, Interim Fire Chief of the Orange County Fire Authority TJ McGovern said firefighters discovered a potential crack in the tank that may be helping relieve pressure.

“With this new information it could change our trajectory and our strategy to this event,” McGovern stated.


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