Crews making progress in lowering temperature of chemical tank, fire official says

Fire crews were making progress Friday lowering the temperature of a chemical tank that is at risk of exploding and releasing toxic material in Orange County.

Orange County Fire Authority Division Chief Craig Covey said in an update on Friday night that efforts to cool the tank by spraying it with water have been successful.

"It's down to a temperature around 61 degrees with 50 (degrees) being its happy place," he said. "Those efforts are succeeding and it's giving us opportunity to reconsider engaging in close proximity to implement some of the concepts...to mitigate this thing."

Covey added that he didn't find it acceptable to either have the tank spill or explode.

Officials have been working to come up with what Covey said were "out of the box" ideas to prevent as much damage as possible.

"Our group is going to do everything they can to come up with a third, a fourth, a fifth option," he said.

Portions of six Orange County cities remain evacuated. It is not clear when people will be able to return to their homes.

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This story was originally published May 23, 2026 at 1:23 AM.