Mysterious Wall of Foam Appears on Canal After UK Chemical Plant Fire

Hayley Third/@helloiamhayley(CLAYTON, England) — A mysterious wall of foam appeared on a canal in northern England after firefighters battled a blaze at a chemical plant — but officials said initial tests did not detect adverse effects on the waterway.

There were no reports of injuries, but the blaze Sunday in Clayton, England, caused a huge smoke plume to billow over parts of Greater Manchester, according to a Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority statement, and local residents were asked to stay indoors Sunday and Monday.

Crews used a variety of water jets to bring the fire under control and reported that the foam had started appearing in nearby water following the incident, the statement added.

Fire and rescue station manager Paul Smitham confirmed one of the structures involved in the fire stores chemicals. The company, Carbogen Amcis Ltd., declined comment to ABC News.

A thick layer of foam could be seen on 98-foot stretch of the canal after the fire, an official with Britain’s Environment Agency said. However, in a written statement to ABC News, the agency said that water quality tests on the Ashton Canal, in Clayton, showed that the watercourse appeared to be normal.

“There has been no impact on fish,” the agency said, adding officers would be on the site again on Wednesday to continue to monitor and respond as necessary.

A Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority spokeswoman said she did not believe the foam was a result of firefighting materials.

However, in the United States, it is known that the Navy uses a fire-suppressing agent called “aqueous film-forming foam,” or AFFF.

“AFFF rapidly extinguishes hydrocarbon fuel fires,” according to the U.S. Navy website. “It has the additional property of forming an aqueous film on the fuel surface that prevents evaporation and hence, re-ignition of the fuel once it has been extinguished by the foam.”

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