A large explosion at a food-coloring plant in Louisville, Ky., on Tuesday killed two workers, according to city officials. The blast blew out the windows of nearby homes and businesses, scattered debris through the area, briefly prompted a shelter-in-place order and injured several other plant workers.
Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, Mayor Craig Greenberg called the explosion at the Sense Colour facility “incredibly sad and tragic.” The plant produces food additives such as the caramel used in soft drinks and is owned by Givaudan, a Swiss company.
The cause of the blast is under investigation, officials said on Wednesday, adding that they did not have reason to believe there was anything nefarious at play. They also said that the air was being monitored and sprinkler runoff at the site was being tested, and that they had not found any evidence of hazardous substances.
Around two decades ago, an explosion at the same plant — which at the time was owned and operated by another company — killed one person and prompted a shelter-in-place order because of a release of ammonia solution.
Givaudan said in a statement that it was “grieving with the families” of those killed this week and cooperating with the authorities in their investigation, which will involve the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The blast on Tuesday, which took place around 3 p.m. in the Clifton neighborhood of Louisville, was heard many miles away and prompted nearly 300 calls to 911, according to emergency officials. Minutes after the first call, firefighters responded to the scene and “found an area that had obviously dealt with a tremendous explosion,” Mayor Greenberg said.
Tuesday night, firefighters initially believed they had located and evacuated everyone in the building, the mayor said, adding: “Tragically, that was not the case.” They were notified that one worker was still missing.
The firefighters re-entered the partially-collapsed, smoldering structure and after midnight, they found the worker in the rubble, his body showing signs of significant trauma.
Several other workers, all employees of the company, had been transported to an area hospital with a “spectrum” of injuries: blast injuries, thermal injuries and injuries from fallen debris, according to Jason Smith, a trauma physician at UofL Health, who also spoke at the news conference. One of them was in critical condition and later died.
Officials did not identify either victim. But the family of Austin Jaggers announced on social media and told local news outlets that he was killed in the blast. On his Facebook profile, Mr. Jaggers had described himself as an industrial maintenance technician.
Brian O’Neill, the chief of the Louisville Fire Department, said it had been particularly challenging for firefighters to evacuate workers from the plant because they were simultaneously confronting a fire, a partial building collapse and the possible release of hazardous materials.
When firefighters learned late Tuesday of the worker who was still not accounted for, they carefully re-entered the plant to search for the person, aware of the potential for a secondary collapse, Chief O’Neill said.
“They set up shoring and everything to take care of that,” he said, “and it took several hours to finally get to the victim and dig them out.”
The explosion at the plant left nearby houses and yards strewed with debris, which officials asked residents not to move, as it could be helpful to authorities in their investigation. It also displaced some residents, who later received assistance from the American Red Cross, officials said.
Three blocks from the site of the plant, Alice Adams felt the blast. “I was getting ready to make some bread and all the sudden there’s this huge, huge loud noise and the power goes off,” said Ms. Adams, 74.
She and her husband headed outside, she said, with other neighbors, who told them thatpicture frames had fallen from their walls.
“Then you looked up and you could see some white smoke,” Ms. Adams said. It started smelling like if you burn brown sugar. We thought, ‘Maybe it could be that food-coloring factory.’”
People within two blocks of the plant were told to evacuate; people within a mile, like Ms. Adams, were ordered to stay indoors for a few hours after the blast, she said. Power was quickly restored to the area, except at the plant.
In 2003, an explosion at the same factory, which at the time was owned and operated by D.D. Williamson & Co., killed an employee and badly damaged the facility. After an investigation, federal authorities determined that a large tank had been to blame.
“An 8-foot-tall food additive processing tank exploded under pressure,” according to a news release from the Chemical Safety Board. The tank exploded because of issues related to pressure relief valves, the board said.
The tank’s shell hit an ammonia tank, which led to the release of an estimated 26,000 pounds of aqueous ammonia over a five-hour period, prompting officials to order around two dozen residents to evacuate their homes and some 1,500 others to stay inside.
The plant was in recent years acquired by Givaudan.
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