LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Neighbors in Louisville's Clifton neighborhood recalled the horrific moment the Givaudan Factory on Payne Street exploded in their backyards Tuesday.
"I didn't know if it was thunder, real loud thunder, I mean it was just so loud," said Jane Fitzgerald, who lives a few houses away from the factory's entrance. "It was scary. Very scary."
Fitzgerald was sitting on her front porch when the explosion occurred. She showed WHAS11 around her home where one of her windows shattered. It's the same window that also shattered when a different explosion took place at the factory in 2003.
"I told my boys if they blow me up they need to sue them," Fitzgerald said.
Her neighbor did not want to speak publicly but shared doorbell camera footage showing their window also shattering from the explosion's vibrations. They also shared video that showed the smoke lingering in their front yard.
Plastic tarp now covers their shattered windows. Multiple pieces of debris covered in a sticky smelly substance were found on multiple houses and yards.
Wednesday was the first time reporters could get a closer look at the aftermath at Givaudan factory from the ground.
After experiencing another explosion, most residents don't want the factory to stay in their neighborhood anymore.
"I want 'em outta here," Fitzgerald said.
Another neighbor who lives right next to the factory's entrance said she was not home when the explosion happened. But her family told her if felt like a bomb was going off and all they could see was white when they opened the door.
"They don't need to be, they were here in 1946 when there were billy goats running around," Fitzgerald said. "There's people here now."
Fitzgerald and surrounding neighbors located in front of the factory still had power, but it was a different story for Wendell Stone and his family who live behind it.
"It's horrific," said Stone. "You work a job and then you have to come home to this, and you can't even stay in the place where you rent."
Stone said the explosion blew out their doors and shattered several neighbors windows as well.
From their back patio you can get a clearer shot of the aftermath at the Givaudan factory.
"We are like 30 feet from the actual explosion," Stone said. "Had my wife not been in the car, which I believe shielded her, and the train actually shielded us from major catastrophic damage, she probably wouldn't be here today."
Their property manager was onsite assessing the damage with a clean up crew. They were working fast to cover any holes on the property from the explosion before the rain moved in.
Stone is glad his family is safe, but he wants someone to be held responsible for the damage.
"If I did this to somebody they'd know who to go after," Stone said. "I'd be in jail. Who do we go after? We don't even have an advocate."
On top of the damage to their homes these neighbors still have to deal with the lingering smell.
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