As roughly 16,000 people remained under evacuation orders due to hazardous material concerns at a Garden Grove aerospace facility, the Jacobs and Cushman San Diego Food Bank began assembling food and necessary items Tuesday for those affected.
The ongoing incident, which began Thursday, has disrupted operations at the Community Action Partnership of Orange County and the OC Food Bank. As a result, San Diego Food Bank staff and volunteers on Tuesday were gathering 3,500 food boxes for Orange County's Senior Food Program, as well as diapers and other supplies for impacted families and community members.
A truck carrying the emergency assistance is scheduled to depart San Diego between 4:30 and 5:30 a.m. Wednesday from the warehouse in Miramar.
"Food banks are part of the emergency response infrastructure for our communities," said Casey Castillo, CEO of the food bank. "While our primary mission is serving San Diego County, moments like this remind us that emergencies do not stop at county lines. We are proud to support our neighbors in Orange County because we understand that when one region is in crisis, we come together to help however we can."
The Jacobs and Cushman San Diego Food Bank has committed to providing up to 5,000 emergency food boxes per week as long as the emergency continues.
Capt. Greg Barta of the Orange County Fire Authority reported Tuesday morning that overnight monitoring of a tank at GKN Aerospace in Garden Grove showed the temperature of the chemical inside was holding at 92 degrees — a positive sign for the substance that had previously been measured at about 100 degrees, prompting fears of a massive explosion or leak.
Evacuation orders for about 34,000 people were lifted over the weekend when officials determined that a crack in the main storage tank had relieved pressure inside. But some 16,000 people in Garden Grove and Stanton remained under evacuation orders Tuesday, as officials said a smaller explosion or leak could not be ruled out yet.
The evacuation area is now bordered by Orangewood Avenue to the north, Garden Grove Boulevard to the south, Dale Avenue to the east and Knott Street to the west.
