40,000 Evacuated in Southern California as Chemical Tank Threatens Leak or Explosion

Firefighters in Garden Grove are working to stabilize the failing tank holding methyl methacrylate while seeking solutions to avert disaster.
40,000 Evacuated in Southern California as Chemical Tank Threatens Leak or Explosion
Water is sprayed on a tank that overheated at an aerospace plant in Garden Grove, Calif., Friday, May 22, 2026. Jeff Gritchen/The Orange County Register via AP
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Roughly 40,000 people in Garden Grove, a Los Angeles suburb, were evacuated on Friday after a chemical storage tank was determined to be at risk of failing and spilling thousands of gallons of toxic material or exploding.

The malfunctioning tank holds methyl methacrylate, a flammable and volatile chemical used in plastics manufacturing for aerospace applications, igniting widespread worries over potential toxic vapor release.

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Kimberly Hayek
Kimberly Hayek
Author
Kimberly Hayek is a reporter for The Epoch Times. She covers California news and has worked as an editor and on scene at the U.S.-Mexico border during the 2018 migrant caravan crisis.