United News of Bangladesh

Authorities in Southern California were scrambling Friday to prevent a possible explosion at a chemical storage tank after a hazardous leak forced nearly 40,000 people to evacuate from several cities in Orange County. Officials said a storage tank containing between 6,000 and 7,000 gallons of methyl methacrylate, a chemical used in making plastic parts, overheated on Thursday and began releasing dangerous vapors at an aerospace plastics facility in Garden Grove. The leaking tank at GKN Aerospace could crack and spill toxic chemicals onto the ground or even explode, according to Orange County Fire Authority Division Chief Craig Covey. “This thing is going to fail, and we don’t know when,” Covey told reporters. “We are trying our best to stop it or reduce the risk.” Evacuation orders, initially issued for Garden Grove residents, were later expanded to parts of five nearby cities — Cypress, Stanton, Anaheim, Buena Park and Westminster — after crews failed to stop the leak overnight. GKN Aerospace manufactures parts for commercial and military aircraft. Authorities said no injuries or deaths had been reported. Later on Friday, officials said emergency crews had managed to stabilize the tank’s temperature, giving them more time to work on a solution. Garden Grove, located about 38 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, is home to one of the largest Vietnamese communities in the United States. The city is also less than a mile from Disneyland, although the theme parks were not included in evacuation orders. Residents described scenes of panic and uncertainty after receiving emergency alerts. Danny Pham, who lives a few blocks from the plant, said he was asleep when his roommate woke him early Friday and told him to evacuate immediately. “It was shocking,” Pham said. “I never thought something like this could happen.” He quickly left with only his wallet and passport and later took shelter at a friend’s restaurant in a nearby city. By Friday afternoon, Pham said he still did not know where he would spend the night and worried he might be away from home for several days.   Officials said crews placed sandbags around the area to contain any possible spill and stop the chemical from reaching storm drains, creeks or the ocean. Orange County health officer Dr Regina Chinsio-Kwong warned that the chemical vapor could cause breathing problems, eye irritation, nausea and headaches if exposed to high heat. Authorities said crews had successfully stabilized one damaged tank earlier, but the remaining tank was considered the biggest threat. GKN Aerospace said hazardous materials experts were continuing to assess the situation. “Our priority remains the safety of employees, emergency responders and the surrounding community,” the company said in a statement. Many residents also worried about whether elderly and non-English-speaking people fully understood the evacuation warnings. Kim Yen, a retired resident who lives two blocks from the leak site, said she rushed to her daughter’s home after receiving an emergency alert on her phone Thursday night. She feared some members of the Vietnamese community might ignore the warning because it was issued in English. “This is scary,” she said. When she briefly returned home Friday morning to collect medicines and important documents, she found the neighborhood nearly empty, with police officers going door to door to ensure residents had evacuated. Garden Grove Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein urged residents to follow official instructions. “We understand this is frightening,” she said. “But the evacuation orders are for your safety.” Local Vietnamese television channels later translated official updates and urged residents to remain alert.

More than 17,000 residents in Southern California were under evacuation orders on Tuesday as a fast-moving wildfire threatened homes in suburban areas. The Sandy Fire, driven by strong winds, broke out on Monday in the hills above Simi Valley, around 30 miles (48 kilometres) northwest of Los Angeles. By Tuesday morning, the blaze had burned more than two square miles (about five square kilometres) of dry vegetation and destroyed at least one home, according to the Ventura County Fire Department. Fire officials said winds initially pushed the flames at speeds of over 30 mph (48 kph), but calmer overnight conditions helped firefighters gain some control. “We’ve made a lot of progress against this fire with those improved weather conditions,” said Ventura County Fire Department spokesperson Andrew Dowd, adding that crews were trying to contain the blaze before winds pick up again. The fire was reported to be about 5% contained, and investigators are still working to determine the cause. Evacuation orders and warnings remained in place across several neighbourhoods in Simi Valley, a city of more than 125,000 people that was covered in thick smoke as firefighting aircraft dropped water and fire retardant. In a separate incident, firefighters were also battling a much larger wildfire covering about 23 square miles (59 square kilometres) on Santa Rosa Island off the Southern California coast. That fire destroyed a cabin and an equipment shed and forced 11 National Park Service staff to evacuate. Officials said there was no containment as of Tuesday morning. Santa Rosa Island, a popular camping and hiking destination, is home to wildlife including island foxes, spotted skunks and elephant seals.

A rapidly spreading wildfire fueled by strong winds in Southern California triggered evacuation orders and warnings Friday as firefighters worked to contain the blaze. The Springs Fire ignited around 11 a.m. and expanded to roughly 5.47 square miles (14.17 square kilometers) by evening, with crews beginning to make progress in containing it. Authorities said the cause of the fire, burning east of Moreno Valley in Riverside County, remains under investigation. The number of homes affected by evacuation orders or warnings was not immediately known. The blaze erupted in a populated, though not densely settled, unincorporated area near Moreno Valley, a city of about 200,000 people located roughly 10 miles (16 kilometers) southeast of Riverside and 64 miles (103 kilometers) east of Los Angeles. “It’s windy out there,” said Maggie Cline De La Rosa, a public information officer for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in Riverside County. Alex Izaguirre, a spokesperson for Cal Fire Riverside County, said gusty conditions were spreading smoke across the region, prompting concern among residents in nearby communities who could see and smell it. The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for the valleys of San Bernardino and Riverside counties through Saturday afternoon, warning of gusts reaching up to 50 mph (80 kph). “Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result,” the advisory said.  

Two people died and 18 were injured Thursday when a small plane crashed through the roof of a sprawling furniture manufacturing building in Southern California where at least 200 people were working, police said. The identities of the people who died, and whether they were in the plane or on the ground, was not yet known, said Kristy Wells, a Fullerton police spokesperson. The plane crashed less than two minutes after taking off from the Fullerton Municipal Airport in Orange County, located just six miles (10 kilometers) from Disneyland, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware. Security camera footage from Rucci Forged, a wheel manufacturer across the street, shows the plane was tilted on its side as it dove into the building, causing a fiery explosion and black plume of smoke. Firefighters and police arrived on scene and battled the blaze and evacuated surrounding businesses, Wells said. Chris Villalobos, an airport operations worker, came to the warehouse to see what had happened after receiving a phone call about a plane going down nearby. He said the owner of the aircraft was a regular at the airport and has frequently taken off from there. Read: SKorea to inspect Boeing as it struggles to find cause of plane crash “He has a hangar here and everything,” Villalobos said. Villalobos said that after taking off, the pilot told air traffic control he was going to turn around to make an emergency landing, but it was unclear what the issue with the plane was. The building was occupied by Michael Nicholas Designs, a furniture upholstery manufacturer, according to a sign on a door, and there appeared to be sewing machines and textile stock inside. Ten people were taken to the hospital, while eight were treated and released at the scene, police said. There were two confirmed deaths, according to Wells. The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane was a single-engine Van's RV-10, a four-seat aircraft. The airport in Fullerton has one runway and a heliport. Metrolink, a regional train line, is nearby and flanks a residential neighborhood and commercial warehouse buildings. Read more: Kazakhstan Reports 42 Feared Dead in Azerbaijan Airlines Plane Crash Another four-seat plane crashed into a tree a half-mile from the airport last November while making an emergency landing right after takeoff, the Orange County Register reported. Both people on board suffered moderate injuries. Fullerton is a city of about 140,000 people some 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles.

Gov. Gavin Newsom lifted stay-at-home orders across the state Monday in response to improving coronavirus conditions, a surprising move hailed by beleaguered businesses but that prompted caution from local health officials concerned the public may let down its guard.

Nearly 200 Americans evacuated from China because of the new virus are "very relieved' to be quarantined at a military base in Southern California for two weeks, one of them said Friday.