Weird Undulating Sea of Foam Takes Over California Street

"If there had been a fire, this system would’ve worked very well," San Jose Fire Department Capt. Mitch Matlow tells the Mercury News. Unfortunately there wasn't a fire, so instead a whole mess of fire-retarding chemical foam flooded a hangar Friday at San Jose International Airport before spilling into the streets. Video from the scene shows a hypnotic, undulating mass of white foam that looks kind of like snow. "When does Santa arrive?" one wiseacre asked a police officer as he drove by the foam. KGO-TV reports the foam, which was flowing for nearly three hours, is carcinogenic and can irritate the skin, so Californians starved for winter fun should think twice before making any foam angels or foammen. (More foam stories.)