SANTA CLARA (KRON) — A sea of foam has spilled out of a hangar at Mineta San Jose International Airport in California and onto an adjacent street.
The foam started coming out of a Signature Flight Support’s hangar on San Jose Airport property at around 11 a.m.
It was caused by the accidental discharge of fire-fighting foam, according to an official with Corporate Communications.
The company does not know how or why it happened. It is likely some sort of mechanical dysfunction.
By the afternoon, the pulsating flow had surrounded two tanker trucks, reached to the bottom of a stop sign and spilled onto the street.
Crews are asking people to stay out of the foam, but video showed a man on a bicycle emerging from the fluffy mass, covered in foam.
The foam blanketed a section of Martin Avenue, stood about 3-and-a-half feet tall and filled about the size of a city block.
An environmental cleanup company has been called to remove the white foam that have spilled.
San Jose fire crews went to the scene around 11 a.m. in response to a fire alarm that accidentally went off. They arrived to find foam that was roughly 10 feet high.
The foam is used to put out flammable liquid fires and leaves a film over the liquid to prevent oxygen from entering.
The foam is a carcinogen in its concentrated form and could lead to skin irritation when diluted.
Some of the foam has entered storm drains, but hazardous materials teams from both cities have been able to trap the material, which poses an environmental hazard.
The cleanup company will distribute a dissolving agent that will break down the bubbles and drive a giant vacuum cleaner truck in the area.CREDIT @mightycory instagram