More than 40,000 Californians evacuated due to chemical tank leak

Officials have warned that the tank contains a "highly volatile" substance that could lead to an explosion. More than 40,000 evacuated in Orange County due to chemical tank leak Orange County Fire chief says chemical tank 'actually bulged' amid fears of explosion Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Water is sprayed on a stack of four cylindrical storage tanks, with another larger brown and white tank visible alongside them. More than 40,000 Californians evacuated due to chemical tank leak A close up on silver tanks being sprayed with water. More than 40,000 people have been evacuated after a toxic chemical started to leak from a tank at an aerospace manufacturing facility in the US. The tank in southern California contains an estimated 7,000 gallons of methyl methacrylate, a highly volatile and flammable substance used in the production of plastic. The Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) issued initial evacuation orders for the area surrounding the Garden Grove facility on Thursday afternoon, after reports of a tank temperature increase. The evacuation zone has been expanded and the cause of the leak is being investigated. OCFA officials say there are three tanks at the facility, one of which has a compromised cooling system. In a press conference on Friday afternoon, OCFA Chief Craig Covey said there were two potential outcomes from the leak, the first being that the tank fails and spills "very bad chemicals" into the area surrounding the facility. "Or two, the tank goes into a thermal runaway and blows up, affecting the tanks that are around it that have fuel or chemicals in them as well." "This is not precautionary," he said. "This thing is going to fail, and we don't know when... We're doing our best to figure out when or how we can prevent it." A hazmat team is working with experts to find a way to depressurise the affected tank and limit exposure. The fire chief said that evacuation orders will remain in place as authorities try to mitigate the leak. He added that his team had been able to successfully prevent further temperature increases of the compromised tanks. Evacuation centres have been set up by the OCFA, along with an information hotline. Officials have asked people to "refrain from calling to offer suggestions" as to how to respond to the incident. Actress Anya Taylor-Joy and designer Donatella Versace delivered tributes to the singer during the ceremony. Thousands attend funeral prayers for the three victims of Monday's deadly shooting at the Islamic Centre of San Diego. The Sandy Fire ignited in the city of Simi Valley and spread across 1,364 acres (550 hectares) with minimal containment as of Tuesday, officials said.