Authorities in Southern California on Friday were trying to figure out how to prevent a tank that leaked a dangerous chemical used to make plastic parts from exploding as about 40,000 people were under evacuation orders in the area.
A storage tank holding between 6,000 and 7,000 gallons (22,700 and 26,500 liters) of methyl methacrylate overheated Thursday and began spewing vapors into the air at a plastic aerospace structure in Garden Grove, a city in Orange County, the local fire authority said.
The tank could fail and rupture, releasing the chemical into the ground, or it could explode, Orange County Fire Authority Division Chief Craig Covey said Friday.
“This thing is going to fail and we don’t know when,” Covey said. “We’re doing our best to figure out when or how we can prevent that.”
Officials ordered residents in Garden Grove to leave and extended evacuation orders Friday to some residents of five other Orange County cities — Cypress, Stanton, Anaheim, Buena Park and Westminster — after they were unable to stop an overnight leak at the tank at GKN Aerospace, which makes parts for commercial and military aircraft.
No injuries or deaths were reported, authorities said.
In an update later Friday, Covey said authorities have been able to maintain the tank’s temperature, buying time to figure out how to fix it.
Garden Grove is about 38 miles (61 kilometers) south of downtown Los Angeles and less than a mile from the two Disneyland theme parks, which were not under evacuation orders Friday. The city is known for its vibrant Vietnamese community, one of the largest of any American city.
Danny Pham said he was deep in a dream when his roommate knocked on his door around 7 a.m. Friday morning and told him he had to leave immediately. Pham had been working late at night at a Vietnamese restaurant and hadn’t seen the news.
“It was shocking to me,” said Pham, who lives just a few blocks from the plastics plant. “I didn’t know how serious it would be. I never knew something like this could happen.”
He left a few minutes later, grabbing only his wallet and passport, and took refuge in a friend’s restaurant in a neighboring town.
As of late Friday afternoon, Pham was still trying to figure out where he would stay the night and worried he only had the clothes on his back, possibly for the next few days.
Covey said crews have created containment barriers with sandbags in case there is a chemical spill from the tank to prevent the toxic chemical from entering storm drains or reaching nearby streams or the ocean.
Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong, county health officer, said that if the chemical is heated, it can release a vapor that is harmful to people’s health. It can cause breathing problems, itchy and burning eyes, nausea and headaches.
Crews were initially successful and were able to neutralize one of the two damaged tanks, but Covey said they determined Friday morning that the remaining tank was “in greater crisis.”
GKN Aerospace said specialist hazardous materials teams are assessing the situation.
“There are no reports of injuries at this time and our priority remains the safety of our employees, responders and the surrounding community,” a spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “We will provide verified updates as soon as more information becomes available.”
Kim Yen, a Garden Grove retiree, was settling in for the night Thursday when she heard a siren sound coming from her phone. An alarm told her to leave her home, which was just two blocks from the chemical leak.
As Yen drove to her daughter’s home in Seal Beach, she worried that others in the local Vietnamese community might ignore or misunderstand the evacuation alert because it was in English.
“They are family,” she said. “I hope they stay alert and listen to the news and the authorities. This is scary.”
Yen, who is originally from Vietnam and has lived in Orange County since 1980, made a quick stop at her home Friday morning to pick up important documents and medications. At the time her neighborhood was “a ghost town,” and she was comforted when she saw police officers going door-to-door to make sure everyone had evacuated.
“We understand this is scary,” said Garden Grove Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein. “But evacuation orders are in effect for your safety.”
Local Vietnamese television stations translated updates from officials and urged residents to take the situation seriously.
By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ, CLAIRE RUSH and HANNAH SCHOENBAUM The Associated Press
Rodriguez reported from San Francisco, Rush from Portland, Oregon and Schoenbaum from Salt Lake City.
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