11 injured in Louisville explosion, shelter-in-place order issued for ‘hazardous materials incident’

At least 11 people were injured in Louisville, Kentucky, and residents have been asked to shelter in place in the one-mile radius of an explosion in a neighborhood east of the city’s downtown area.

The city’s emergency services posted on X that there has been a “hazardous materials incident” at the address of a Givaudan Sense Colours, a company that makes natural food colorings. Louisville Metro Police said its officers responded and blocked off the roadways around the location.

It is the scene of a “large scale incident,” according to a post from the Louisville Fire Department.

No fatalities were reported and officials did not give conditions of the injured, who were taken to local hospitals.

Louisville Fire Chief Brian O’Neill told reporters the response was for an explosion, structural collapse and hazardous material incident. He credited the workers with their emergency response to get most people out.

Firefighters rescued one person who was trapped and assisted others in escaping the building.

“Once we got the fire knocked down we immediately started air monitoring for the immediate area,” O’Neill said. “You may have heard that there was an evacuation, that was a precautionary measure.”

He added that it was done because authorities didn’t know what they were up against, but the air monitoring is ongoing. Officials said that some people were evacuated because they were unable to shelter inside due to blown out windows.

Nothing has shown chemical issues in the air to cause concern, O’Neill said. Monitoring will continue as the structural issues may create new leaks, he said.

Video from NBC affiliate WAVE showed a large police presence and emergency services vehicles lining the road of what appeared to be a residential street.

Firefighters and trucks were roughly two blocks from where the caution tape blocked off the road.