Orange County emergency officials no longer believe there will be a major catastrophic explosion from a tank containing a highly toxic and flammable chemical. The tank is in the back of GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems, located along Western Ave.
“We are happy to report that the threat of a BLEVE is now off the table,” Orange County Fire Authority officials said Monday in a post on X. BLEVE stands for Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion.
Hazmat teams checked on a crank in the 7,000 gallon tank holding methyl methacrylate, or MMA. It’s a highly toxic flammable liquid used to make plastic. Officials said it has released the pressure that has built up inside that tank. There’s still a threat of a smaller explosion.
“There is still material in the tank. The quantity in the tank is still to be determined. Quantity as in the remaining liquid that's in that tank,” OCFA Captain Brian Yau said.
There are 50,000 people in Garden Grove, Stanton, and parts of Buena Park and Anaheim who are still under evacuation orders. The orders were issued for residents north of Ball Rd., east of Dale St., west of Valley View St., and south of Trask Ave.
Multiple evacuation centers are open. Those are located at Los Alamitos High School, Golden West College, Mile Square Regional Park, John F Kennedy High School, Ocean View High School, Los Amigos High School, and Savanna High School. For RVs, a center is open at OC Fair & Events Center. SOme of the evacuation centers are already full or at close to capacity.
Several schools are closed until further notice:
Garden Grove District
• Barker Elementary School
• Bryant Elementary School
• Carver Early Childhood Educational Center
• Enders Elementary School
• Garden Park Elementary School
• Lawrence Elementary School
• Wakeham Elementary School
• Patton Elementary School
• Bell Intermediate School
• Alamitos Intermediate
• Pacifica High School
• Rancho Alamitos High School
• Maintenance and Operations Facility
• Lampson Bus Yard
Magnolia School District
• Robert M. Pyles STEM Academy
Savanna School District
•All campuses will be closed the week of 5/25/26-05/29/26
Westminster School District
• Sequoia Elementary and Fryberger Elementary are in the Evacuation Area and will remain closed. All students will continue education through online learning.
• All other schools outside the evacuation area are business as usual.
The Stanton Library is also closed until further notice.
No injuries have been reported at this time.
County officials also established a public information hotline at (714) 628-7085.
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