Louisville officials investigate cause of Carbide explosion, review safety response

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Carbide Industries provided an update about an explosion last week in Louisville's Rubbertown neighborhood.

Carbide said it was fortunate that no one was hurt as it works with Kentucky OSHA regarding a safety audit after the explosion.

A spokesperson for the company said Carbide immediately contacted the Louisville Air Pollution Control District to report the explosion.

Several agencies are actively investigating what went wrong and how to prevent something similar from happening in the future.

Preliminary findings revealed that Carbide did not violate local air regulations. The biggest concern for Louisville residents who live nearby is how they were notified. Part of the conversation was about Louisville's LENSAlert system and its use after similar emergencies. It sends text alerts out to subscribers when emergencies happen.

"From our canvassing, most of the people we speak to don't even know what LENSAlert is, which means that people are not going to receive pertinent information if they are to evacuate or shelter in place," Eboni Cochran, with Rubbertown Emergency ACTion, said.

Carbide said the alerts are a key part of its emergency action plan to help notify people if they need to evacuate. But officials with Rubbertown Emergency ACTion said many of the people they talked to aren't familiar with the system, and it's not clear how many people actually use it.

Louisville Metro Emergency Services officials have not yet responded to a request for information about how many people are signed up for LENSAlert. To sign up, text "LENSAlert" to 67283.

Louisville Metro Emergency Services recently launched the LouReady app, which centralizes emergency resources in the city. It notifies residents of emergency situations and provides access to preparedness resources.

The app is free to download. To download the app on the Apple App Store, click here. To download it on the Google Play Store, click here.

The root cause of the explosion at Carbide is still under investigation.

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