California orders evacuation of 40,000 after chemical leak sparks explosion fears

California: Around 40,000 residents in Southern California were placed under evacuation orders after a leaking tank containing a volatile industrial chemical at an aerospace manufacturing facility raised fears of a major explosion or toxic spill, local authorities said.

The leak began on Thursday afternoon at a GKN Aerospace facility in Garden Grove, located in Orange County, where an overheated storage tank holding methyl methacrylate — a flammable chemical used to make acrylic plastics — started releasing hazardous vapours.

Officials said one of the facility’s three storage tanks suffered a cooling system failure, triggering the emergency, Xinhua news agency reported.

Later on Friday, the Orange County Fire Authority posted a critical update on X, warning about the unstable 34,000-gallon methyl methacrylate tank at the site.

Authorities outlined two possible scenarios: the tank could rupture and spill 6,000 to 7,000 gallons of the toxic chemical, or it could undergo thermal runaway and explode, potentially impacting nearby tanks. No active toxic plume had been detected at the time of the briefing.

Emergency crews initially believed the situation had stabilised overnight, but deteriorating conditions on Friday prompted officials to expand evacuation orders, leading to school closures and emergency measures across several nearby communities.

Residents in Garden Grove and surrounding areas were ordered to leave as officials warned that the compromised tank could fail at any time.

“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 fatalities have been reported.

(Inputs from IANS)