US firefighters warned a tank of toxic chemicals in California is heating up, adding to fears of a catastrophic explosion that has already forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate.

US firefighters warned a tank of toxic chemicals in California is heating up, adding to fears of a catastrophic explosion that has already forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate.

California's governor has declared a state of emergency after tens of thousands of Orange County residents were ordered to evacuate

May 23 (UPI) -- California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday declared a state of emergency in Orange County, Calif., in response to a hazardous chemical incident there.

Authorities in Southern California on Friday were racing to prevent the explosion of a storage tank that has been leaking a hazardous chemical used to make plastic parts.

Authorities in Southern California on Friday were racing to figure out how to prevent the explosion of a storage tank that has been leaking a hazardous chemical used to make plastic parts.

Authorities are working to prevent a potential hazmat explosion in Southern California, where an estimated 40,000 people were under evacuation orders.

Evacuation centers remained open in Southern California on Saturday as authorities worked to cool an overheated chemical storage tank and keep it from exploding less than a mile from Disneyland's

The emergency order allows the state to mobilize additional resources and accelerate coordination among local, state and federal agencies responding to the crisis at the GKN Aerospace plant in Garden Grove, where a tank holding methyl methacrylate (MMA) has remained at an unstable temperature for days. MMA is a highly flammable industrial chemical used in acrylic plastics and aerospace manufacturing.