Flood Of Fire Retardant Foam From An Airport Hanger Engulfs An Entire California Street

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Foam Apocalypse is here! Or on the street in Santa Clara, California, to be exact. Last Saturday morning, at around 11 a.m., a 3-metre (10-foot) high foam blob took over the street and filled the entire city block.

Pic Credits: the gaurdian
Pic Credits: the gaurdian

Although the cause of the foam leak is still unclear, the authorities say that it resulted from an unintentional fire alarm in a hangar at Mineta San Jose International Airport, releasing a 3-metre tall foam onto the road. This also led to a seemingly unstoppable flood of the flame-retarding foam in the neighbouring Martin Avenue.

Pic Credits: the gaurdian
Pic Credits: the gaurdian

You can watch the on the spot local news station KTVU Fox 2’s coverage of the foam tide on Facebook live.

There was a guy seen to having a lot of fun while riding his bike through the mysterious foam, ignorant of the fact that consuming or exposure to flame retardants in high quantities can lead to skin irritations and even can be carcinogenic.

Pic Credits: Jonathan Bloom
Pic Credits: Jonathan Bloom

 

These days the flame retardant foam made out of an aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), which helps in cutting down flame’s contact with oxygen thus stopping any further combustion.

Pic Credits: the gaurdian
Pic Credits: the gaurdian

But the kind of AFFF used in airport hangars is high-expansion foams, capable of expanding more than 200 to 1,000 times of their condensed volume and able to quickly fill a space, the reason why the foam covered the entire street in no time.

The environmental cleanup company, Clean Harbors, has been asked to help in removing the foam and making sure it doesn’t pose an environmental threat to local water sources and the public.

Pic Credits: the gaurdian
Pic Credits: the gaurdian

Nevertheless, it did give us a fun topic to help spend our weekend!

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