Louisville Metro Government officials say they’ll conduct a full investigation into the city’s response to Monday's explosion and fire at a Rubbertown chemical plant.The blast at the Carbide Industries plant killed two workers and injured two others.Mayor Greg Fischer says the incident never posed any chemical danger to neighborhood residents, but police advised people to stay in their homes and close their windows for a time as a precaution. Some are upset that they weren’t quickly notified about the nature of the fire. Fischer says he’s concerned that information about the incident was not posted in a timely manner on a phone system maintained by Rubbertown plants, and the city will now upgrade and back up the system. Carbide Industries General Manager John Gant (pictured) says the delay was his company’s fault."It should have happened within half an hour and I think it happened within an hour and a half. That’s totally our responsibility, not the mayor’s not the health department, it’s the plant’s responsibility,' he said.The cause of the explosion, which originated in a furnace, has not been determined.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.
