Return To Givaudan Sense Colour
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.
Such a sad event, yet so interesting to read the narration alongside your great photography. Thanks for that friend 🤘🏻😎
Seeing it in person, talking to some of the folks affected really drove it home for me. My house burnt to the ground a few days before I graduated high school, so I could really relate to people who's homes were damaged and forced to displace, wanted to convey a sense of that. That you for you kind words friend.
Wow, what a devastation! They better be more careful if this factory keeps blowing up.
I grew up in a small town which had a fuel depot in the center and a paint factory two miles away. The paint factory was considered the #1 disaster risk, and had its own firefighters, who kept it safe until it was closed recently. The worst local disaster that did happen was in a neighboring town, a dust explosion in the wood shavings storage of a fiberboard factory, killing three people including two firefighters.
I've never seen anything like it before, Well if the factory's neighbors get their way it won't get another chance.
Dust explosions are no joke! Until my parent divorced we had a woodworking business, so my brothers and I got taught about dust explosions from an early age. The only thing blowing up when we were going up were meth labs, but those weren't anywhere near on the same scale.
Wow!... :(
!discovery shots
That's about all you can say, just wow.
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I always think it must be very hard to photograph the scene of a sad incident like this, especially when lives were lost and people hurt but it's important nonetheless to document it. The fire and heat that followed the explosion must have been very intense.
It really is, which sometimes catches me off guard. It's a weird feeling standing somewhere snapping photos knowing people just died there a few hours before, it definitely affects you. Just seeing and talking to the people impacted makes it real in a way that is difficult if not impossible to fully convey, but you can't help but feel empathetic, makes you want to make people understand. Thankfully there was minimal fire with this, from what I gather it was a pressure vessel rupturing, catastrophic damage and lots of heat but limited flames. Small mercies and all that.
Reminds me of some horrendous things I’ve witnessed over the years and I doubt many human beings have not seen something along these lines. It is a somber reminder of how fragile we are and how when things go wrong it happens at a frightening speed.
Keep Safe Everyone there!