It may look like snow, but this is California – the sunshine state – and so you just know that it cannot be. No, what you’re looking at here is firefighting foam, and its engulfing a Californian airport!
Yep, that’s right. A malfunction at the Mineto San Jose International Airport, about 70 kilometres south of San Francisco, has caused a sea of foam to run riot, swallowing a hangar and spewing onto the surrounding streets. Luckily it hasn’t disrupted any flights.
According to witnesses, the foam stood at about 3-and-a-half feet tall and filled about the size of a city block!
Take a look at some footage of the sea of foam below:
According to San Jose firefighters at the scene, the bubbling mess started due to some malfunction with the fire prevention system inside the new hanger. When working properly, the system works to prevent a flammable liquid fire inside the hangar from spreading. However, when not working, such as now, it just causes one HUGE mess!
“If there had been a fire, this system would’ve worked very well.”
Mitch Matlow, Fire Captain, speaking to The Mercury News.
Although the foam may look harmless and fun to play with, local residents are being advised to stay away from the spreading mass of bubbles, as it can cause some skin irritation.
However, it does indeed look fun, and authorities could do nothing to stop some members of the public enjoying the Californian snow, such as this guy:
Blake Harrington just took the ride of his life — through a street full of firefighting foam. It’s non-toxic, but could be a skin irritant. pic.twitter.com/iytIb0u56y
— Jonathan Bloom (@BloomTV) November 18, 2016
But whatever fun is to be had, it won’t last much longer, with the foam currently being removed by an environmental clean up company, fire officials said.