On November 12th of this year, a factory making food colorings for beverages in the Clifton neighborhood of Louisville exploded, killing two and injuring eleven others. The blast also damaged numerous homes in the area, blowing out windows and flinging debris, with the residents displaced. It wasn't the first time there was an explosion at Givaudan Sense Colour, with a blast in 2003 killing one and injuring more than twenty.
Seeing the effects of the blast firsthand the next day was stunning, gave me a newfound appreciation for the force of the blast. As it was still the scene of an investigation, the area was mostly taped off and I couldn't get very close, but it was close enough to see it had been devastating.
Eventually managed to get around that by getting permission from a neighbor of the factory to shoot from their backyard. Their house appeared to have been most heavily affected by the blast, with the fence splintered and sheets of metal hanging from trees and lying twisted on the ground. There was also a black oily substance splattered all over, with a smell reminiscent of the fluid in electric transformers. You can see more of that in this post, these photos are all from my return visit yesterday.
I'd returned to see if more of the area was accessible, and to revisit this garage more particularly. I'd taken this photo out the hole in the wall above the trash can but had been unable to see the front as it was in the taped off area. Seeing it from this side makes me even more amazed more weren't killed, the folks living here weren't home at the time thanks to a random errand that'd come up.
The investigating has mostly wrapped up, with Cooker No. 6 being determined to the source of the blast. Now the long process of picking up the pieces begins, although a cloud of uncertainty still hangs overhead with both the future of the factory and the timeline for residents to return to their homes still up in the air. Will keep checking in, until next time y'all be safe and don't forget to duck.
