Foam Engulfs California Airport Hangar!

Local Editor

A bobbing sea of white foam several feet deep in spots spewed out of a large hangar at Mineta San Jose International Airport in California on Friday, covering cars and blocking businesses as it cascaded onto a nearby street.

San Jose fire Capt. Mitch Matlow said the foam was a chemical used as a fire retardant and was coming from the San Jose airport hangar's fire prevention system.

Firefighters said the foam spread after a fire alarm malfunctioned.

Matlow said the retardant discharged accidentally and began spilling out in the morning.

By the afternoon, the pulsating flow had surrounded two tanker trucks and filled a block-long stretch of the street.

The public has been warned to not to touch the foam as it is a skin irritant.

Crews were asking people to stay out of the foam, but a man on a bicycle pedaled through the fluffy mass, emerging covered in foam to laughing onlookers. The rider, Blake Harrington, said he could not see through it even when he stood up on his bike.

"Someone had to do it," Harrington told San Francisco Bay area station KTVU-TV, saying the foam felt and smelled like soap.

Local media said the foam deluge had stopped, and clean-up crews are being sent to the scene.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team