Chemical tank explosion avoided
Just before Memorial Day weekend of this year, the news reported that a 34,000-gallon tank at a nearby manufacturing facility was at risk of an explosion. Due to a refrigeration system failure, the temperature of a flammable chemical had risen more than forty degrees above normal and safe levels, causing the contents to pressurize and off-gas toxic vapor. A rupture would send seven thousand gallons of a hazardous chemical into the streets and down the storm drains to the ocean, severely impacting humans and wildlife, and an explosion would release a toxic cloud covering a three-mile radius.
Firemen sprayed water on the bulging tank in an attempt to cool it, but as its internal temperature continued to rise, nearly fifty thousand residents were evacuated, and hundreds of first responders and other personnel arrived. Although my house was just outside the evacuation zone, my husband’s office and a close friend’s home were within the damage blast zone of what seemed an inevitable disaster.
I had been praying about the situation, but when the governor of California declared a state of emergency, I committed to praying even more deeply. I turned first to my Bible and read two comforting, favorite psalms: the 23rd and 91st. The heading for Psalm 91 read, “Safety of abiding in the presence of God” (New King James Version), and I spent some time affirming that God, who is ever-present divine Love, was at the scene protecting all involved.
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