Garden Grove chemical plant blast risk ends, evacuation orders stand

Orange County Fire Authority officials said Monday the threat of a catastrophic chemical tank explosion at GNK Aerospace in Garden Grove has been eliminated after fire crews physically verified a crack in the tank and confirmed that internal temperatures are falling.

The development offers some relief to tens of thousands of North Orange County residents under evacuation orders across Garden Grove, Anaheim, Buena Park, Westminster and Stanton since Thursday — though officials warned that smaller explosion and spill risks remain and all evacuation orders are still in force.

"We are happy to report that the threat of the BLEVE (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion) is off the table," OC Fire Authority interim Fire Chief TJ McGovern said in a Monday morning update, according to Voice of OC.

Incident Commander Craig Covey said crews entered the exclusion zone to inspect the tank directly. "The crack is there. We have verified that it's there and the tank has released its pressure," Covey said. He reported that the tank's internal temperature had dropped overnight from 100 to 93 degrees. "The temperature has been stabilized and actually reducing. It's currently 93 degrees, down from 100 degrees. That is incredibly good news," Covey said.

McGovern later cautioned at a news conference that danger had not fully passed. "The threat is not eliminated. The threat of a BLEVE is eliminated. We have a BLEVE, we have an explosion, we have a spill. The threat of a BLEVE is eliminated," he said, according to Voice of OC.

The incident, which began Thursday, has displaced tens of thousands of residents across five North Orange County cities. Four of the six emergency evacuation centers were at capacity as of Monday morning.

Officials said evacuation zones could potentially be reduced later Monday as atmospheric monitoring of chemical vapor levels continues. Residents are advised to follow local emergency alerts for updates on evacuation orders, which remained in effect Monday morning.