Posted on 05/23/2026 4:42:20 PM PDT by Libloather
Fire officials have released a clear and haunting view of what damage could look like if the toxic Garden Grove tank explodes, with its temperature increasing with each passing hour.
OCFA Division Chief Nick Freeman said Friday that blast zones would be divided into severe, moderate, and light blast zones in a radius around the tank.
The most severe blast zone will cause “severe structural damage and significant harm,” while the moderate zone will see structural damage and some harm. The lightest zone will see just some structural damage.
In addition, an oblong circle above the tank is divided into three zones representing further hazards caused by the chemicals: a red, orange, and yellow zone.
The red zone is the most lethal, representing a flammable area that could see fire or flash fires. Orange is still threatening and could cause injury to anyone who inhales the chemicals. The yellow area represents spots where residents could smell the vapors, but they would not be dangerous.
Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong was also at the news conference and said anyone smelling the chemicals will get notes of a strong fruity odor. But she said smelling the odor doesn’t mean you will have symptoms.
“We actually do know that when you smell it, you don’t typically have symptoms, and when you actually measure the levels in the air, it doesn’t mean it’s dangerous,” she said. She also urged people to evacuate and said a precautionary mask is unnecessary outside the evacuation zone.
She previously said the chemical involved, methyl methacrylate, can cause “significant irritation in the lungs, the nasal passages,” along with nausea and dizziness. Heavy doses of the substance could “cause severe respiratory distress and hospitalization.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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Any time we had a highly flammable and dangerous product we were required to have fire department connections a certain distance from the process so they could flood the system with foam. This would instantly eliminate the oxygen and help get the situation under control. We were required! it is amazingly effective.
Maybe things are done different in Orange County.
The leaking chemical tank in Garden Grove, Orange County is still pouring out toxic chemicals.
Evacuation orders are still in effect for roughly 44,000 people across parts of Garden Grove and nearby cities.
Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency.
Containment barriers and sandbags are being deployed to protect storm drains and waterways.
I think Governor Newsom should be personally on the scene to deal with it. Like 4 feet away.
Is this ‘tank’ a rail car or a industrial pressured storage tank?
Okay, I caught the pic in post 11 of the tank.
Sorry for not replying earlier, but yes, a “tank” tank.
That’s the problem. It’s not safe to “bell the cat” so I think there will be few volunteers.
We need the movie version with Bruce Willis.
Strange that there are so many RVs and campers parked on site.
Probably free storage for their employees’ vehicles. Where I used o work they let the employees park their campers and boats in an unused corner of the property.............
Thanks...
😄👍
Such industrial tanks usually receive product via rail car.
There would be various discharge valves, if not more than two plus the intake valve and line leading to the rail spur.
My thinking and logic would be to engineer a discharge line to railroad tank(s) to “repackage” the product to a safer vessel.
Thanks- if the picture from the article is correctly indicating the tank in question, it appears to be properly set in a containment site with high concrete walls.
The storm drains should be locked and sealed with an official seal and record of who seals and unseals it.
The only NFTA placard I see is a small one on the piping. Being a hazardous process, that tank should have multiple NAFTA placards around the tank for easy identification by emergency response crews. I don’t see any. Just a few observations. But as they say, if it can go wrong- it will.
Like so many things. The Strait of Hormuz comes to mind.
And we cant hook up the line and drain it to other tanks?
After a closer look, it appears I may be looking at the wrong tank. The tank in the picture seems to be under construction or repairs because of all the material laying around it and the tarp hanging on the side looks to be covering an entry point cut out for work crews. But the water jet if not spraying this tank, is spraying something else behind the tank out of view.
If it is this tank- then it should be completely isolated, blinded & misaligned from any possible hazardous material or dangerous process. Which means a major FUBAR to have this tank in play. Looking at this tank, the hatch on top is open to atmosphere. This says their probably won’t be an explosion because the pressure is being released. Not to say it won’t ignite and maybe ignite violently depending on the chemical or material. This leads to possibly an uncontrolled release of a very deadly product. Think Bhopal, India. Which is unthinkable- but something is not adding up.
Well I apologize, it’s getting late and I’m getting old.
I finally opened the 5 sec link and it clarified my misunderstanding.
RUN AWAY- SOMETHING IS GOING TO BLOWED UP REAL GOOD!
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