Natural gas played a role in the Fort Worth hotel explosion, officials say

Texas officials have yet to determine exactly what caused an explosion at a downtown Fort Worth hotel that injured 21 people but believe natural gas was involved, Jim Davis, the city’s fire chief, said Tuesday evening at a press conference.

The blast, which occurred around 3:30 p.m. Monday at the Sandman Signature hotel, caused part of the building to collapse into the basement, leaving one person burned and others suffering concussions, strains and lacerations from the debris, Chief Davis said. The person who was burned remained in critical condition at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, he said.

“It was clear that gas, natural gas, was involved – we don’t know if gas caused the explosion or if the explosion caused the gas problem,” Chief Davis said. “It’s just a matter of the chicken or the egg.”

Earlier Tuesday, Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes said during a briefing for the City Council that officials had “absolutely no indications that anyone intended to cause this explosion.”

Chief Noakes said he was at City Hall, less than a half mile from the hotel, when the explosion occurred. He heard the noise and saw windows rattling and then went to the scene.

“It was chaotic,” he said. “It was devastating. It was kind of hard to see here in Fort Worth, in the heart of Fort Worth.

All of the injured are adults, and a secondary search involving cadaver dogs Tuesday afternoon turned up no additional victims, Chief Davis said at the news conference. “We can say with confidence that we have no indications that anyone is missing at this time.”

Photos shared fire department social media showed walls and windows being blown out of the building, and a firefighter pulling a woman from the rubble.

The 245-room, 20-story Sandman Signature hotel is located in one of Fort Worth’s most historically significant buildings, the WT Wagoner Building. It was built in 1920 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

Northland properties bought the building in 2019. According to sources, the hotel will open in March 2023 The Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Among the injured were three employees of Musume, a contemporary Asian restaurant that opened in June in the hotel’s basement, said restaurant spokeswoman Claire Armstrong. Two were later released from hospital and one remained in hospital in a stable condition on Tuesday, Ms Armstrong said.

No construction work was taking place in Musume when the blast occurred, Ms Armstrong added, saying Monday was “just a normal working day” before the explosion.

Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker said in an interview Tuesday that while the city was heartbroken that 21 people were injured, “we are incredibly lucky” that the restaurant was closed and there were no customers when the explosion occurred. On Mondays, Musume is closed between 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM, during the transition between lunch and dinner service.

“This could have been a lot worse,” Ms Parker said.

The Sandman Signature hotel had no history of code violations, Ms. Parker said. There is “no indication that there is anything criminal,” she added. “It seems like it’s a coincidence.”