USA, May 23: Tens of thousands of people were ordered to leave their homes in California Friday after a huge chemical tank began leaking, with warnings it might blow up, sending toxic fumes over a heavily populated area.
The tank contains 7,000 gallons (26,000 liters) of methyl methacrylate, a volatile and flammable liquid used to make plastics, with firefighters warning things were looking bad.
"There are literally two options left," Incident Commander Craig Covey said.
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"The tank fails and spills a total of about 6-7,000 gallons of very bad chemicals into the parking lot in that area or, two, the tank goes into a thermal runaway and blows up, affecting the tanks around them that have fuel or chemicals in them as well.
"We are setting up these evacuations in preparation for these two options: it fails, or it blows up.
"Please follow our requests and orders for evacuations."
The incident was unfolding in the Garden Grove area of Orange County, south-east of Los Angeles.
Garden Grove Police Chief Amir El-Farra said about 40,000 people were affected by the evacuation order, with several thousand refusing to leave their homes.
No injuries had been reported by Friday afternoon, and there was no immediate indication as to what caused the leak, which was initially reported on Thursday.
Covey said crews were preparing for a chemical spill, which he described as a "best case scenario" and far preferable to an explosion and a toxic plume.
Responders were working to put containment barriers in place to prevent any spilled material from reaching storm drains or river channels that lead into the ocean.
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