At least 11 people were injured in Louisville, Kentucky, and residents were asked to take shelter within a mile of an explosion Tuesday in a neighborhood east of downtown.
The city’s emergency services posted on Louisville police said officers closed the roads around the site.
It is the scene of a “major incident,” the Louisville Fire Department said on X. A shelter-in-place order was lifted about an hour after it was issued Tuesday afternoon.
No deaths were reported and officials provided no information on the conditions of the injured, who were taken to local hospitals.
Fire Chief Brian O’Neill told reporters the response was to an explosion, a structural collapse and a hazardous materials incident. He credited workers for their emergency response to get most of the people out.
Firefighters freed one person who was trapped and helped others escape the building.
Fire trucks in Louisville Tuesday.
“Once we extinguished the fire, we immediately began air monitoring for the immediate area,” O’Neill said. “You may have heard that there was an evacuation; That was a precaution.”
He added that the order was given because authorities did not know what they were dealing with and that air monitoring continues. Officials said some people were evacuated because they could not take shelter indoors due to blown-out windows.
Nothing has shown that chemical problems in the air are a concern, O’Neill said. Monitoring will continue because the structural problems could cause new leaks, he said.
Video from NBC affiliate WAVE showed a heavy police presence and emergency vehicles along what appeared to be a residential street.
Firefighters and trucks were about two blocks from where the caution tape blocked the road.
WAVE host John Boel posted a video from the station’s Sky Track camera, which he said captured the moment of an explosion in Clifton, where the fire was.
Authorities did not provide additional information and Givaudan Sense Colors did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
