40K Evacuated in Southern California as Chemical Tank at Risk of Exploding

A damaged chemical tank in Southern California has a crack, potentially lowering the risk of a cataclysmic explosion, though an evacuation order remains in effect for some 50,000 area residents with no timeline on when they can return, fire officials said Sunday.

Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Wayhowe Huang said that fire officials were able to evaluate the tank more closely overnight and discovered the tank had cracked.

Huang told The Associated Press earlier Sunday that it did not appear any of the highly volatile chemicals in the tank have leaked. “There’s still the danger of a possible explosion,” Huang said.

Firefighters have been spraying the tank with water in an effort to cool the chemicals inside and prevent an explosion. The inside of the tank reached 100 degrees (37.7 Celsius) Sunday, Democratic state Sen. Tom Umberg said, an increase of 10 degrees Fahrenheit (5.5 Celsius) since Saturday.

Democratic Gov.