OC Del Taco To Offer Free Meals To First Responders

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — A local Del Taco is stepping up to provide relief for first responders working long hours as a result of the ongoing hazmat crisis in Garden Grove.

For a limited time, free meals will be offered at a Garden Grove Del Taco to first responders in uniform as a thank-you for their service during the crisis.

The deal only applies to the Del Taco located at 11070 Garden Grove Blvd., where the crisis is currently ongoing.

As of 6 p.m. Tuesday, all the Orange County residents displaced by a chemical tank that threatened to explode over Memorial Day weekend have been cleared to return home.

Unified Incident Commander Craig Covey and Garden Grove Police Department Chief Amir El-Farra broke the good news to residents at a special meeting of the Garden Grove City Council on the emergency.

"I'm happy to report the lifting of evacuations in its entirety immediately," El-Farra said. "Everyone can return to their homes. Thank you for your understanding and patience."

Roughly 16,000 people remained under evacuation orders Tuesday due to continued concerns about the storage tank at the Garden Grove aerospace facility.

Before announcing the lifting of the evacuation orders, Covey told residents at the council meeting Tuesday evening that authorities were in a more "offensive" mode now. The temperature in the tank was "stable today, it actually dropped down to 90 degrees."

Covey later said that after the continuous water spray on the tank was turned off the temperature remained stable for a few hours.

Authorities will "drop it down to a 300-foot zone" around the tanks to keep working on them, Covey said. Western Avenue will remain closed for emergency vehicles, he added.

City News Service contributed to this report.