Diamond Bar Explosive Gas Contained, Evacuations Lifted: Cops

DIAMOND BAR, CA — It's over, according to officials, after a 12-hour evacuation from over the weekend after a box truck carrying 25 explosive hydrogen gas tanks caught fire in Diamond Bar. That evacuation order was lifted at 3:30 a.m. Monday after firefighters finished letting compressed hydrogen out of tanks in a truck that caught fire in suburban Diamond Bar, a spokesperson from the Walnut Sheriff's Station said.

The California Highway Patrol shut down the on-ramps and off-ramps near the incident, on the eastbound Pomona (60) Freeway at Brea Canyon Road, CHP Officer Stephan Brandt said. Those were reopened about 5 a.m. Monday for morning commuters after a harrowing night.

Residents were initially evacuated in a half-mile radius of the truck explosion that began around 1:15 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of South Brea Canyon Road and Golden Springs Drive, south of the 60 Freeway in Pomona and west of the 57 Freeway, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Traffic was not impeded on the freeway, according to CHP.

Witnesses near the scene heard an explosion at the time of the initial incident. Police evacuated area residents at around 3 p.m. for fear of the explosive situation, according to LA Sheriff's Walnut Station spokesperson Deputy Kimberly Alexander.

Firefighters drowned the blaze before 4 p.m. but two trucks maintained a steady stream of water over the hydrogen tanks, cooling them. Of the 25 cylinders, at least seven or eight were considered "compromised," according to the fire department. As of 8:30 p.m. Sunday, one tank was still leaking gas.

Deputies were still blocking a radius of 200 feet around the truck until it could be towed away.

Los Angeles County Fire Department PIO Photo