40,000 people under evacuation orders for a chemical tank leak in
Southern California
[May 23, 2026]
By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ, CLAIRE RUSH and HANNAH SCHOENBAUM
Authorities in Southern California on Friday were racing to figure out
how to prevent the explosion of a storage tank that has been leaking a
hazardous chemical used to make plastic parts, as some 40,000 people
were under evacuation orders in the area.
A storage tank holding between 6,000 and 7,000 gallons (22,700 and
26,500 liters) of methyl methacrylate overheated Thursday and began
venting vapors into the air at an aerospace plastics facility in Garden
Grove, a city in Orange County, the local fire authority said.
The tank could fail and crack, releasing the chemical onto the ground,
or it could explode, Orange County Fire Authority Division Chief Craig
Covey said Friday.
“This thing is going to fail, and we don’t know when,” Covey said.
“We’re doing our best to figure out when or how we can prevent it.”
Officials ordered residents in Garden Grove to leave and expanded
evacuation orders Friday to some residents of five other Orange County
cities — Cypress, Stanton, Anaheim, Buena Park and Westminster — after
being unable to stop the leak overnight on the tank at GKN Aerospace,
which makes parts for commercial and military aircraft.
No injuries or deaths have been reported, authorities said.
In an update later Friday, Covey said authorities have been able to
maintain the tank's temperature, buying time to figure out how to fix
it.
Garden Grove is about 38 miles (61 kilometers) south of downtown Los
Angeles and less than a mile from Disneyland's two theme parks, which
were not under evacuation orders Friday. The city is known for its
vibrant Vietnamese community, one of the largest of any U.S. city.
Danny Pham said he was deep in a dream when his roommate banged on his
door around 7 a.m. Friday morning and told him he needed to leave
immediately. Pham had been working late the night before at a Vietnamese
restaurant and had not seen the news.
“It was shocking to me,” said Pham, who lives only a couple blocks from
the plastics plant. “I didn’t know how serious it would be. I never knew
that a thing like this could happen.”
He left minutes later, grabbing only his wallet and passport, and took
shelter at a friend’s restaurant in a neighboring city.
By late Friday afternoon, Pham was still trying to figure out where he
would stay the night and worrying that he had only the clothes on his
back, possibly for days to come.
Covey said crews have created containment barriers with sandbags in case
there is a chemical spill from the tank to prevent the toxic chemical
from getting into storm drains or reaching creeks or the nearby ocean.
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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)
Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong, the county health officer, said if the
chemical heats up, it can release a vapor that is harmful to people’s
health. It can cause respiratory issues, itching and burning eyes,
nausea and headaches.
Crews were initially successful and were able to neutralize one of two
damaged tanks, but Covey said they determined Friday morning that the
remaining tank was “in the biggest crisis.”
GKN Aerospace said specialized hazardous material teams are assessing
the situation.
“There are no reports of injuries at this time and our priority remains
the safety of our employees, responders, and the surrounding community,”
a spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “We will provide verified
updates as soon as more information becomes available.”
Kim Yen, a retiree in Garden Grove, was settling in for the night
Thursday when she heard a sirenlike sound coming from her phone. An
alert told her she needed to leave her home, which was just two blocks
from the chemical leak.
As Yen drove to her daughter’s house in Seal Beach, she worried that
others in the local Vietnamese community might ignore or not understand
the evacuation alert because it was in English.
“They are family,” she said. “I’m hoping they stay alert and listen to
the news and the authorities. This is scary.”
Yen, who is originally from Vietnam and has lived in Orange County since
1980, quickly stopped by her house Friday morning to grab important
documents and medications. By then her neighborhood was “a ghost town,”
and she was comforted to see police officers going door to door to make
sure everyone had evacuated.
“We understand that this is frightening,” Garden Grove Mayor Stephanie
Klopfenstein said. “But the evacuation orders are in place for your
safety.”
Local Vietnamese television stations translated updates from officials
and urged residents to take the situation seriously.
___
Rodriguez reported from San Francisco, Rush from Portland, Oregon, and
Schoenbaum from Salt Lake City.
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