40,000 people ordered to evacuate in California after chemical leak

California: About 40,000 residents in Southern California were under evacuation orders after a leaking tank of volatile industrial chemical at an aerospace manufacturing facility sparked fears of a major explosion or toxic spill, according to local authorities.

Authorities on Friday (local time) said the leak began Thursday afternoon at a facility in Garden Grove, a city in Orange County, where an overheated storage tank holding methyl methacrylate — a flammable chemical used in the production of acrylic plastics — began venting hazardous vapours.

Officials said the facility operated by GKN Aerospace contains three storage tanks in total, with one suffering a cooling system failure, reports Xinhua news agency.

Later in the day, the OC Fire Authority shared a critical video update on X about the unstable 34,000-gallon tank of methyl methacrylate at GKN Aerospace.

Officials described two potential failure modes: a spill of 6,000-7,000 gallons of the flammable, toxic chemical into the area or thermal runaway leading to an explosion that could affect nearby tanks, with no active plume reported at briefing time.

Emergency crews initially believed they had stabilised the situation overnight, but worsening conditions on Friday prompted authorities to expand evacuation orders, forcing school closures and emergency responses across multiple cities.

Residents in Garden Grove and nearby communities were affected by the evacuation directives as emergency crews warned the compromised tank could either rupture and spill thousands of gallons of chemicals or explode.

“This thing is going to fail, and we don’t know when,” Orange County Fire Authority Chief Craig Covey said during a public briefing.

No injuries or deaths have been reported.

IANS