California declares emergency as 40,000 evacuated after chemical leak

LOS ANGELES – California Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency Saturday after a chemical tank leak in Garden Grove, a city in Orange County, forced some 40,000 residents to evacuate.

Authorities 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.

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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, the local fire authority said.

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Orange County Fire Authority Division Chief Craig Covey speaks during a news conference at the Los Alamitos racetrack in Cypress, Calif., Friday, May 22, 2026, about hazmat situation in Garden Grove, Calif. (Jeff Gritchen/The Orange County Register via AP)

State of emergency

Newsom‘s proclamation directs the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and all state government agencies to support Orange County and impacted local jurisdictions to address the emergency.

It also unlocks additional emergency response resources and authorities, including making state-owned properties and fairgrounds available to provide shelter for evacuated residents as necessary.

“@Cal_OES has been mobilized for over 24 hours and state agencies are supporting impacted communities to protect public safety, and assist local officials as response efforts continue,” Newsom said Saturday.

Preventing an explosion

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.

‘Shocking’

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.

Respiratory issues

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.”

Evacuation alert

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.

‘Frightening’

“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.

On Saturday, the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) was “bringing people in from all over the country” to confront a rising threat from the compromised chemical storage tank.

‘Back in harm’s way’

Covey said Saturday that working with the chemists from the manufacturer’s emergency response team, the OCFA put its people “back in harm’s way last night” transitioning from defense to offense in an attempt to neutralize an additional 15,000-gallon tank to remove its explosive potential in the event that an adjacent tank blows up.

He said the workers were able to see a gauge that’s covered by water, and it revealed that the temperature had increased to 90 degrees from 77 degrees Friday morning.

The team was currently allowing the tank to “cure at a slower rate and reducing its (building) overpressure,” Covey said.

Additionally, the OCFA is “bringing people in from all over the country … talking to people all over the place, trying to come up with additional options,” he added. “Letting this thing just fail and blow up is unacceptable to us.”

‘Very aggressive’ contingency plans

He added that “very aggressive” contingency plans are being employed in case the tank blows up or leaks, including fire and medical emergency plans, though the only people currently at risk are the firefighters and police officers on scene, Covey added.

If the tank leaks, authorities are trying to establish “some diking and damming and divert it to a spot that could be holding area” to prevent the fluid from “getting into our storm drains, our river channels and ultimately into the ocean, (causing) an environmental disaster,” Covey said.

GKN Aerospace statement

GKN Aerospace posted the following statement on its website Saturday: “There is a serious and evolving situation regarding a thermal issue in a chemical storage tank at our Garden Grove site in California. The situation remains ongoing and we are fully focused on working with emergency services, specialized hazardous material teams and the relevant authorities to ensure the safety of the local community, our employees and everyone else involved.

“We sincerely apologize for the significant disruption to the many local residents and businesses who have had to be evacuated. We are working tirelessly with all relevant experts to resolve this situation as safely as possible and in a timely manner and are deeply grateful for the continued skill and dedication of the Orange County emergency services.”

The company paid about $900,000 to settle multiple environmental violations in 2021, including failing to keep emission records and operating equipment without a permit, according to the OC Register, which cited the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

‘Now is not the time to wait’

Garden Grove Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein implored residents to follow the evacuation orders.

“We understand it is frightening people who are worried about their homes, their businesses, their pets and loved ones,” she said. “But this is a serious situation and now is not the time to wait.”

Areas of Westminster, Stanton and Anaheim were also affected by the evacuation order. The evacuation zone covers the area north of Trask Avenue, south of Ball Road, east of Valley View Street and west of Dale Street.

Beach Boulevard was closed from Garden Grove Boulevard to Orangewood Avenue and several off-ramps on the Garden Grove (22) Freeway including Beach Boulevard, Knott Avenue and Valley View Street.

Evacuation centers

Evacuation centers are located at:

— 13641 Deodara Drive, Garden Grove,
— Cypress: 5700 Orange Ave., Cypress,
— 16801 Euclid St., Fountain Valley,
— Savanna High School, 301 N. Gilbert St., Anaheim, and
— Oceanview High School, 17071 Gothard St., Huntington Beach.

The lingering threat disrupted some events in Orange County including plans to open 39 vote centers Saturday and a The Giving Farm food bank operated by the Community Action Partnership of Orange County. One vote center and three ballot drop boxes are closed and Friday’s scheduled food bank was canceled.

In addition, the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival at the Village Green in downtown Garden Grove, which opened Friday and continues through Memorial Day, has canceled its planned parade and community breakfast. The festival remains open.

Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm remain open

Nearby attractions including Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm remain open, but officials said they were monitoring the situation.

The closed vote center is at the Garden Grove Sports and Recreation Center, 13641 Deodara Drive, which is being used as an emergency evacuation center until further notice.

Ballot drop boxes in the evacuation zone are also closed. They are located at:

— Stanton Branch Library, 7850 Katella Ave., Stanton,

— Korean Martyrs Catholic Center, 7655 Trask Ave., Westminster, and

— Chapman Sports Park, 11700 Knott Ave., Garden Grove.

The Garden Grove Unified School District has canceled classes until further notice at Barker, Bryant, Carver, Enders, Garden Park, Lawrence, Wakeham and Patton Elementary School; Bell and Alamitos Intermediate School, Pacifica and Rancho Alamitos High School and Skylark Preschool.

Los Alamitos Race Course in Cypress canceled Saturday night’s eight-race program “in solidarity with the state of emergency declared in Orange County,” the track announced. (With AP and CNS reports)

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