A damaged chemical tank in Southern California cracked over the weekend but the interior temperature rose as authorities worked to reduce the risks of a powerful explosion that has led to the evacuation of some 50,000 residents.The tank overheated Thursday and began venting vapors, leaving local and state officials scrambling to evade a worst possible scenario at a company site in Garden Grove, a city of roughly 170,000 about 40 miles (60 kilometers) south of downtown Los Angeles. No injuries have been reported.Firefighters have repeatedly sprayed the tank with water in an attempt to cool the chemicals. The tank’s interior reached 100 degrees (37.7 Celsius) Sunday, an increase of 10 degrees Fahrenheit (5.5 Celsius) since Saturday, according to Democratic state Sen. Tom Umberg.Fire officials over the weekend discovered the tank had cracked, lowering the potential for a devastating blast, and it did not appear any of the highly volatile chemicals had leaked, Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Wayhowe Huang said. “There’s still the danger of a possible explosion,” he said.
Officials working to prevent a disasterGov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Saturday and said he asked President Donald Trump to issue an emergency declaration to bolster federal support for local and state officials.The tank at GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems, which makes parts for commercial and military aircraft, holds 6,000 to 7,000 gallons (22,700 to 26,500 liters) of methyl methacrylate used to make plastic parts.Monitoring tests found air pollution around the evacuation zone was within normal limits and specialized equipment is being used to ensure gas is not released, state and federal environmental officials said Saturday.
