That's not snow
But it looks a lot like it.
Probably the craziest thing we'll see all week: we were sitting in Uncommon Grounds in Albany Wednesday afternoon (surprise) when a huge white cloud started spreading from the nearby Mobil station. There was a bit of a "Hey, look at that! Wait, should we be running for our lives?" moment.
It turns out something tripped the gas station's fire suppression system. Apparently there wasn't any initial indication there had been a fire -- the guys working the counter said they weren't sure what set it off.
The chemical spewed out by the system covered everything around the station. It looked like it had snowed.
We talked for a minute with a woman who said she'd been standing under the station's canopy with the system went off -- she was covered in a fine white dust, like she'd been baking a little too enthusiastically. She said all of a sudden there was white everywhere and she couldn't see. She was kind of dazed, understandably.
A few minutes after the system went off, the Albany Fire Department rolled up to inspect the scene.
A bunch of photos after the jump.
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Comments
Yikes! Feel bad for that woman covered in the dust. Hope she wasn't on her way to anything important like a job interview or funeral.
... said Arielle on Nov 30, 2011 at 8:44 PM | link
I can only assume this is what the gas station would look like if Charlie Sheen worked there. Zing!
... said daleyplanit on Dec 1, 2011 at 10:34 AM | link
probably halon ... scary stuff... used in computer/data centers too (run if you know it's going to drop...)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halomethane
... said Carly on Dec 1, 2011 at 12:02 PM | link
Passed this in the bus last night, definitely a head-turner. Glad someone got some good photos!
... said B on Dec 1, 2011 at 2:46 PM | link
@Carly: Not halon, halon's a gas and wouldn't work in an outdoor environment like this (it is used to displace the oxygen in a room). The powder is probably closer related to what is in the fire extinguisher under your kitchen sink, which contains a chemical which attempts to stop combustion from continuing.
... said Mark on Dec 3, 2011 at 6:46 AM | link