Tens of thousands of residents in Garden Grove, a suburb of Los Angeles, California (USA), were asked to evacuate urgently after a chemical tank was at risk of leaking or exploding, threatening to release toxic gases into the surrounding environment.
According to Orange County firefighters, the dangerous situation related to the chemical tank began to appear from May 21 (local time). By May 22 (local time), authorities determined that the risk of explosion had increased after receiving updated information from the company operating this facility.
Mr. Craig Covey, commander of the Orange County Fire Department, said that firefighters are using mechanical equipment to spray water to cool storage tanks from a safe distance to stabilize temperatures and extend incident handling time.
In a video posted on social networks, Mr. Covey said that the current situation has only 2 possibilities: the tank may crack and leak up to 7,000 gallons, equivalent to about 26,500 liters of toxic chemicals, or explode and threaten adjacent tanks.
I know I keep mentioning that we are facing a situation where there are only 2 possibilities, either crack and leak, or explosion. That is unacceptable," Mr. Covey said in the latest video.
He said a group of local, regional, state and national experts are coordinating to find solutions to prevent disasters. "My goal is to gather all these excellent minds to build a plan to prevent the explosion from happening," he emphasized.
The incident tank contained methyl methacrylate, a flammable and volatile chemical, commonly used in the plastic manufacturing and manufacturing industry at an aerospace plant in the area.
Garden Grove is a city with about 172,000 inhabitants, located about 50 km south of Los Angeles. Local authorities have set up 3 evacuation centers, including one location in Garden Grove and two locations in neighboring cities Anaheim and Cypress.
Garden Grove Police Chief Amir El-Farra said that the evacuated area has about 40,000 residents. However, about 15% of people in the dangerous area still refuse to leave their homes despite officials continuously issuing warnings.
