With Orange County now under a state of emergency because of the potential of a catastrophic explosion from a malfunctioning industrial tank holding chemicals in Garden Grove, will the California National Guard also step in to help? Stanton Mayor David John Shawver hopes so.
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“I have asked for the National Guard to protect our city. The OCSD (Orange County Sheriff’s Department) has 22 additional deputies protecting residences and businesses,” Shawver wrote in an email to constituents Saturday afternoon, urging them to evacuate the area.
“The entire City of Stanton is in the Mandatory Evacuation Zone (100%). Leave Immediately,” he wrote.
In a phone interview Saturday, Shawver said he had put in a request with both county and state agencies to bring in the National Guard. He added that he had been in correspondence with Gov. Gavin Newsom, Congressman Lou Correa’s office and Orange County’s Emergency Operations Center.
When asked whether state and local officials were considering that possibility, Shawver said that remained unclear.
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“That’s not my call. The county has to ask the state to bring the National Guard in. I thought it would be good to have them here,” Shawver said. He said the additional personnel could help protect the area from potential looting or vandalism. Despite the extra OCSD deputies on duty, Shawver said deputies were “very busy with homeowners.”
“This is one of those situations where it’s minute by minute. We can’t predetermine anything at this point,” he said.
OCSD Sgt. Lizbeth Gwisdalla said the agency deployed its Mobile Field Force with additional resources. She said deputies assisted Friday night with door-to-door evacuations and are now helping with road closures and high-visibility patrols, making sure no one is coming in or out of the area.
“If we needed more, we can call upon a lot more,” she added Saturday.
The city of Stanton covers a little more than 3 square miles and has fewer than 40,000 residents, according to the 2020 U.S. Census. A large portion of the city has been affected by mandatory evacuations, with no official timeline for return as of May 23.
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