Tens of thousands of residents in Garden Grove, California, have been forced to evacuate their homes following a leak from a chemical storage tank at an aerospace plant. The incident, which began on Friday, prompted evacuation orders for between 40,000 and 50,000 people in the densely populated region near Disneyland. One town has been placed in a state of emergency amid fears of a catastrophic explosion.
Firefighters have been spraying the damaged tank with water to prevent an explosion after recording a temperature increase in the hazardous substance from 25°C to 32°C on Saturday. Emergency responders are also working to neutralize a nearby 15,000-gallon tank to reduce the overall explosive potential if the smaller tank were to fail.
California authorities announced on Sunday that they discovered a crack in the damaged tank containing toxic chemicals, which has eased concerns over a potential explosion. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin stated that a low-volume chemical release is the most likely outcome. Despite these developments, evacuation orders remain in place for tens of thousands of people in the suburb of Los Angeles.