Anaheim family opens home to 20 relatives amid OC chemical evacuation

As a chemical tank crisis at a Garden Grove aerospace plant forced 50,000 Orange County residents from their homes Sunday, one Anaheim family turned their crowded house into a refuge for 20 displaced relatives.

The emergency, stemming from a pressurized toxic-chemical tank at GKN Aerospace in Garden Grove, represents one of the largest recent evacuations in Orange County — and is drawing attention to how local families are holding each other up.

Yasmin Martinez, who lives with her mother in Anaheim, said the decision to take in family was immediate once word spread that relatives needed shelter, according to ABC7 Los Angeles. Within hours, 20 people were sleeping under her roof.

"It's been fun. A lot of playing and running around, sometimes there's moments of stress, but other than that, it hasn't been bad," Martinez said.

To maintain a sense of normalcy, the overcrowded household organized large backyard cookouts and games. Video of the gatherings spread widely on TikTok, resonating with thousands of viewers watching the evacuation unfold.

For Tyara Penuelas, a Stanton resident sheltering there with her young children, the open door meant everything. "I'm very thankful that they opened the doors. With me and my kids, because I'm the one who has the kids, and that they're patient and willing to help out, knowing they're little. I'm very thankful they opened their doors," Penuelas said.

The evacuation order was triggered after a pressurized tank carrying toxic chemicals at GKN Aerospace posed an explosion risk, according to ABC7 Los Angeles. Authorities directed roughly 50,000 residents across multiple Orange County communities to leave their homes.

The Martinez family's story, reported by ABC7 Los Angeles, quickly became a symbol of community resilience across Orange County — proof that even amid a sudden industrial emergency, neighbors and relatives are not far away.