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Evacuation Scope by Affected City
Cities currently under evacuation orders in Orange County
Primary Sources
Chemical spill, explosion risks trigger evacuations in California
An official said there's no active leak, but evacuations orders are to prepare for either a spill or an explosion from a failing chemical tank.
40,000 residents under evacuation orders in Southern California as tank ...
Approximately 40,000 residents are under evacuation orders in Orange County, California, as authorities warn a tank filled with methyl methacrylate could explode. Officials say the chemical is highly volatile, toxic and flammable, with exposure potentially causing respiratory issues. Authorities spent two days trying to cool the overheating tank but said the manufacturers response team could not mitigate the crisis. AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor. Approximately 40,000 residents in Orange County, California, are under evacuation orders as authorities are concerned a tank filled with a toxic chemical will either leak or explode. Authorities have spent the past two days trying to prevent the tank, which is full of the chemical methyl methacrylate, from exploding after it began to overheat. Evacuation orders were issued to those in the 9-square-mile area around the facility involved, impacting over 40,000 residents. The chemical, also known as MMA, is used to manufacture plastics and can potentially cause respiratory issues if humans are exposed, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The temperature of the tank is continuing to decrease, Orange County Fire Authority Division Chief and Unified Incident Commander Craig Covey said in an update Friday evening. “It’s down to a temperature around 61 degrees, with 50 being its happy place,” Covey said, adding that officials are working overnight to prevent the tank from exploding or leaking. The tank cooling down is “giving us opportunity to reconsider engaging in close proximity to implement some of the concepts that were outside the box,” Covey added. On Friday, police made a reverse 911 call to tell people to evacuate and posted on social media about the evacuations, Garden Grove Police Chief Amir El-Farra said. About 15% of people — or about 6,000 residents — from the evacuation area had refused to leave, he said. Thirteen schools and two facilities within the Garden Grove Unified School District were also evacuated Friday morning. The industrial site where the tank is located is about 5 miles from Disneyland and about 4 miles from Knott’s Berry Theme Park. MMA is heavier than air, Covey said at a news conference Friday, and the air should be safe outside of the evacuation zone, Orange County Health Officer Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong said in a later update. “This is going to happen unless some brilliant guy behind me here figures out how we can mitigate this incident,” Cove...
40,000 evacuated in California chemical leak as Orange County officials ...
By Julie Sharp Web Producer, CBS Los Angeles Julie Sharp is a digital producer at CBS Los Angeles. She is a South Bay native and majored in print journalism at Cal State University Long Beach. Julie previously reported for the Beach Reporter, contributed to the Palos Verdes Pulse and worked as a video journalist for CBS News before joining the CBS News Los Angeles website team. Read Full Bio Chelsea Hylton Chelsea Hylton is a web producer for CBS Los Angeles. An Inglewood native, Hylton has her master's degree from USC. She covers local breaking news across the Southern California region. Before joining CBS in 2024, she worked at NBC LA, Telemundo 52, The Los Angeles Times and KOMO 4 News in Seattle. Read Full Bio Updated on: May 22, 2026 / 11:25 PM PDT / CBS LA Add CBS News on Google More than 44,000 people were evacuated in multiple Southern California cities on Friday after officials warned a leaking toxic chemical tank at an Orange County aerospace facility would inevitably fail and potentially explode. The industrial tank at the Garden Grove facility is estimated to contain 7,000 gallons of methyl methacrylate, a "highly volatile" and "highly flammable" toxic substance used in the production of plastics, said Orange County Fire Authority Chief Craig Covey."This is gonna happen unless some brilliant guy behind me here figures out how we can mitigate this incident," Covey said at a news conference Friday afternoon. "This thing is gonna fail. We don't know when." Water sprays on a compromised chemical tank at GKN Aerospace. CBS LA Orange County officials expanded evacuation orders on Friday to homes in a one-mile radius in several cities, including Garden Grove, Cypress, Stanton, Anaheim, Buena Park and Westminster. Evacuation orders were issued for people living in the zone that included: Western border expanded to Valley View St.Northern border expanded to Ball Rd.Southern border expanded to Trask Ave.Eastern border expanded to Dale St."This is as bad as I've ever seen," Covey said while speaking with CBS LA. "This is real, don't mess around. ... I've been in the fire service for 32 years and it's the most significantly dangerous event I've ever been a part of."There was no estimated timetable as to when the evacuation orders would be lifted. OCFA officials said there are three tanks in total, with one of the three compromised in its cooling system. Firefighters said that they have stabilized the temperature of the tank and, thus far, have...
How a Chemical Tank in Southern California Came to the Brink of ...
Firefighters are left without any options to prevent the tank, filled with a toxic chemical, from collapsing or exploding. The authorities have urged thousands of people to evacuate their homes.
