Tens of thousands evacuated in California after chemical tank leak
Tens of thousands were ordered to leave their homes in California, United States, on Friday (22 May) local time. The cause: a leak from a giant chemical tank, with warnings that the tank could explode and send toxic fumes into a densely populated area.
The leaking chemical tank, according to AFP reported on Saturday (23 May 2026), contained 7,000 gallons or 26,000 litres of methyl methacrylate, a volatile and flammable liquid used to make plastics. Local fire authorities warned that the situation looked dire.
The incident occurred in the Garden Grove area, Orange County, southeast of Los Angeles, California.
“Literally, there are only two options left,” said the Incident Commander at the local Fire Department, Craig Covey.
“The tank is damaged and has spilled a total of around 6,000-7,000 gallons of highly hazardous chemicals into the area’s parking lot, or, second, the tank may experience a thermal runaway and explode, which would also affect surrounding tanks containing fuels or chemicals,” he said.
“We are staging this evacuation as preparation for either outcome: a damaged tank or a tank that explodes,” Covey added in his statement.
“Please adhere to our evacuation requests and orders,” he urged.
Garden Grove Police Chief Amir El-Farra said about 40,000 people were affected by the evacuation order, with thousands among them refusing to leave their homes.
Aerial footage filmed by a local television station showed large amounts of water being sprayed onto the tank, which has a capacity of 34,000 gallons.
Covey, in a statement on Friday (22 May), said cooling efforts on the tank had been successful.
So far there have been no reports of injuries in the leak incident. There were no direct indications about the cause of the chemical tank leak, which was initially reported on Thursday (21 May) local time.
Emergency personnel were working to install barriers to prevent spilled material from reaching storm drains or rivers leading to the sea.