DB students among those evacuated after truck fire
February 12, 2018
On Sunday afternoon, around 500 Diamond Bar residents, including many Diamond Bar High School students, were evacuated from their homes due to a truck accident.
At around 1 p.m., a semi-truck transporting compressed hydrogen caught fire on Golden Springs and Brea Canyon Road when leakages occurred in over 20 of the hydrogen cylinders the truck was carrying, according to the Los Angeles Times. The accident occured at intersection in front of the Hannam Chain market plaza, and surrounding neighborhoods within a 10 block radius were evacuated immediately. The fire was put out at approximately 4 p.m.; however one of the tanks was still leaking at 8 p.m., according to NBC.
Evacuees had 20 minutes to clear their homes, many going to the gym at DBHS, a Red Cross evacuation center. Calvary Chapel was also open to evacuees but closed after the hydrogen was contained and the evacuation radius was reduced, leaving DBHS as the only evacuation center. Families were cleared to return to their homes around 3 a.m. Monday.
Though authorities immediately responded to the incident, the evacuation process was troublesome for residents. DBHS senior Charis Doi was one of many that were evacuated, and she felt that the process could have gone smoother than it did.
“The fire department and police came and tackled the situation, but half of our neighborhood got evacuated 20 mins before the rest of our neighborhood,” Doi said via Facebook. “People went on with their lives as if everything was OK until we got a knock on our door.”
Despite housing evacuees, DBHS was deemed safe by authorities and school resumed for normal hours. The gym was closed to students during the day.
“I understand that the school relies on the money they get from students attending school, but if half of us can’t return home, don’t have our textbooks, clothes or even things we need for school tomorrow, why is school open?” Doi said.
