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Authorities first discovered the leak Thursday evening after crews detected hazardous fumes escaping from the tank. Firefighters immediately launched emergency cooling operations in hopes of preventing temperatures from rising inside the container.
At first, officials believed they had gained control of the situation. Some residents who had evacuated were even allowed to return home overnight.
But by Friday morning, emergency officials delivered a grim update.
“We have determined that the tank that is in the biggest crisis is in fact unable to be secured and mitigated,” Incident Commander and Orange County Fire Division Chief Craig Covey said, per reports.
That announcement immediately triggered a massive expansion of the evacuation zone as officials warned the situation could deteriorate at any moment.
“This is highly volatile, it’s highly toxic, it’s highly flammable,” Covey said during the press briefing, while urging people to evacuate.
“This is not precautionary. This is gonna happen unless some brilliant guy behind me here figures out how we can mitigate this incident,” he added.
“This thing is gonna fail — we don’t know when,” he said.
Officials explained that crews are now preparing for two worst-case scenarios.
The first possibility involves the tank rupturing and releasing thousands of gallons of dangerous chemicals into nearby streets and parking lots. Authorities estimated that between 6,000 and 7,000 gallons of MMA could spill into the surrounding area if the container fails.
The second and even more frightening possibility is what experts call a “thermal runaway” event, where temperatures rapidly increase inside the tank and trigger an explosion.
Fire officials warned that a blast could ignite nearby fuel tanks and other hazardous materials stored at the facility, potentially setting off a devastating chain reaction.
“We are setting up these evacuations in preparation for these two options: It fails, or it blows up,” Covey said.
Authorities stressed that no active toxic cloud had formed as of Friday afternoon, but officials insisted the threat remained severe enough to justify immediate evacuations.
Garden Grove Police Chief Amir El-Farra urged residents not to ignore evacuation orders as emergency crews continued racing against time.
“Community safety is our highest priority, and we want to see this come to a successful resolution, but we need your help,” El-Farra said.
Officials estimated roughly 40,000 residents were impacted by the evacuation effort as police, firefighters, and hazardous materials teams flooded the area.
Emergency shelters were opened in both Garden Grove and Cypress for displaced families forced to leave their homes with little warning.
Authorities also confirmed that mutual aid agencies and regional law enforcement partners had been deployed to help secure the perimeter and monitor conditions around the industrial site.
Remarkably, no injuries or deaths had been reported at the time of publication despite the massive emergency response.
Meanwhile, federal officials are now being drawn into the crisis.
Derek Tran said he has been coordinating with federal disaster agencies as concerns continue growing over the unstable tank.
“I am in contact with federal disaster relief officials, including FEMA and the EPA, to urge them to provide any available federal assistance for Garden Grove,” Tran wrote in a statement.
“I encourage everyone in the affected area to follow guidance from local authorities and avoid the impacted zones until further guidance is issued,” he added.
As firefighters continue desperately trying to cool the volatile container, nervous residents across Orange County are now left waiting for answers — and hoping the next update does not come with an explosion.
