PECO: Center City foam caused by offline transformer, no explosion

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Monday, December 5, 2016
VIDEO: Cause of foam
VIDEO: Cause of foamIt was an not an explosion, PECO says.

CENTER CITY (WPVI) -- PECO says an issue with one of their transformers at a substation in Center City caused a massive amount of foam to cover an entire city block.

Officials say there was no explosion or fire, but a transformer near 13th and Lombard streets went offline Saturday afternoon and caused an emergency shutdown.

The emergency system, PECO says, then dispensed the fire suppressing foam.

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Pictured: Chopper 6 over a foam spill and hazmat situation in Center City.

Officials say there was a flash momentarily causing an audible popping sound. They say that's what people heard, not an explosion.

The foam from the fire-suppression system is not toxic and firefighters were able to clean it up after a couple hours.

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