Fort Worth Hotel Explosion: Concrete from first floor 'pancaked' basement, officials say

FORT WORTH, Texas - A gas leak is likely to blame for the powerful explosion in Downtown Fort Worth that injured nearly two dozen people.

Fort Worth fire and utility crews worked through the night at the historic Sandman Signature Hotel on Houston Street and West 7th Street, not far from Sundance Square.

On Monday afternoon around 3:30 p.m., 21 people were hurt in the suspected gas explosion that originated in a sushi restaurant inside the hotel.

One woman was critically injured with major burns, and four people suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries. The rest all had minor injuries.

The woman who was critically injured is currently in the ICU burn unit at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas.

"The building was occupied. There was approximately 28, 29 rooms that were actually rented," Fort Worth Fire Chief Jim Davis told the city council. "There were injuries that occurred. There was approximately 21 people total that were treated. There were some that refused assistance, further assistance and left and left against medical advice. There were 15, I understand, that were transported; one is in critical condition."

Officials say concrete from the first floor has "pancaked" down into the basement of the building.

"The main significant collapse damage is from the first floor into the basement and into the sub-basement," Davis explained.

A collapsed structure engineer has been brought in to make sure the building is structurally sound as debris is removed.

Davis confirmed that there are no fatalities at this time.

The fire chief said there is significant damage to the road in the area, and that he expects the road near the hotel to be closed for some time.

They continued their investigation into the cause of the blast while triple-checking that there were no additional victims trapped beneath the rubble.

"Search and Rescue operations occurred through the night and continue this morning with specially trained canines. At this time, no additional victims have been located," the Fort Worth Fire Department said in a news update.

Fort Worth police say they expect the investigation and cleanup efforts to take several days.

The sushi restaurant, Musume, was closed and under construction at the time. But rescuers did find several people trapped there when they arrived at the scene.

Musume owner Josh Babb said three employees were among those injured.

On Tuesday, Babb noted that two of the three employees were released from the hospital. One female employee is still hospitalized but is in stable condition.

Since Monday evening, the hotel has been completely evacuated and all missing people have been accounted for.

• Several roads in the area remain closed. They include:
• Throckmorton St. closed from W 7th St. to W 9th St.
• Houston St. closed from W 7th St. to W 9th St.
• W 8th St. closed from Throckmorton to Main St.

The closed area includes part of the parade route for the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo and the Martin Luther King Jr. Day parades.

Fort Worth police say they are working with planners to determine the best way for the routes to be safe.

The hotel is owned by the Canadian company Northland Properties. Its CEO is Tom Gaglardi, the owner of the Dallas Stars.

The company has not yet released a statement.

Cause of the Explosion

There are still a lot of unanswered questions about what caused an explosion inside the hotel.

Chief Davis told the city council that the cause of the explosion is still unclear. 

"First of all, there is significant damage to the building, specifically the first floor and the basement and into the subbasement of the building," he said.

The chief said his department is working with Atmos for more information about gas service to the building. 

"We do believe that gas was involved," he said. "The question that we have that we're waiting to work together with Atmos on is whether or not a gas leak caused the explosion or explosion caused the gas leak."

"We want to make it clear that this was some type of gas explosion. We are still working on the details to see what caused that," said Craig Trojack with the Fort Worth Fire Department.

Atmos Energy shut off all gas lines to the hotel and is looking into the exact cause.

Chief Noakes said the cause of the explosion does not appear to be intentional. 

"We have absolutely no indication that there was any intent by anyone to cause this explosion," he said. 

After the explosion, Atmos says gas service was isolated and turned off to the affected area. 

On Tuesday, Atmos did not answer several of FOX 4’s questions, including if there had been any reports to Atmos regarding potential gas leaks in the area in the past 30 days.

The fire chief says it’s his understanding that there were no 911 calls prior to the explosion.

"But it is not my understanding that we investigated any smell of gas prior to that," Davis said.

Fort Worth police and firefighters, along with crews from Atmos Energy, the Dallas ATF field office, Texas A&M Task Force 1, MedStar, and the city's transportation and water departments, remain at the hotel for an investigation.

The Sandman Hotel says guests who need to reclaim their property can visit the Zipper Building on Thirteenth Street. It closes at 10p.m on Tuesday, but people can come back Wednesday morning.

Heroic Rescue Efforts

Fort Worth Fire released several new photos of the response to the explosion. Photos show the first responders running into the debris and pulling victims from the rubble.

The blast interrupted a meeting for Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes.

"We heard the sound, saw the windows rattle," he recalled. "It was chaotic. It was devastating. It was kind of hard to see here in Fort Worth. What I saw was Fort Worthians doing what they do. I saw residents coming out, people who worked at businesses assisting those that were injured. I saw Fort Worth police officers who went in the building to help Fort Worth firefighters with evacuations."

Jordan Bass was walking home and was nearby when the explosion happened. He started to record video but then realized there were people trapped inside who needed help. 

"Metal starts hitting the ground. I remember hearing the metal, ‘Ting! Ting! Ting!’" he recalled.

Tuesday, Bass was happy to once again see a man, who doesn't speak English. They didn't need to speak the same language to understand each other.

"He was telling these women to jump from the window. So we started catching them. There were about eight women," he recalled.

Bass said the women were employees of the Sandman Hotel. 

"They were screaming franticly. They were so high up, I couldn't touch their feet. But they were jumping, so that gives you an idea of how scared they were," he said.

Video shows the shattered second-floor windows where Bass says they climbed out to jump. 

"Her arm was cut up. I had to lift her legs up so she could get free," he said. "Sitting on awning three at a time, taking turns coming off the left side."

One man nearby appeared to have serious injuries. 

"There was a guy lying there, bleeding," he recalled.

Bass says he is thankful he was able to help.

"I usually walk on that side. But yesterday, I walked on this side for some reason," he said.

Susan Fowler is in town for a work conference. She was in her room on the tenth floor of the Hilton Hotel in Downtown Fort Worth when she heard the explosion. 

"I looked out the window, and insulation was flying by. Smoking was coming by," she recalled. "We got down here and just chaos."

Fowler spoke with one man who was in the second-floor conference room with his staff when the explosion happened. 

"The gentleman that was there, that was telling us that his group, all of them got cut up," she said. "He was saying that the explosion, literally it was like going back to 9/11. He got thrown in and then thrown back out. It was nuts." 

Fowler was glad to lend an ear and comfort to those who were hurt. 

"Just thank god it wasn’t something more," she said.

The blast blew out car windows and twisted and pummeled their exteriors. 

Vehicles belonging to hotel guests and others parked were in the lot next to the building, including Scott and Angela Cockcroft’s Cadillac SUV.  They were in the hotel’s elevator on the way to their ninth-floor room when the explosion happened. 

"When it first jerked, we thought it was a malfunction with the elevator," Angela recalled. "And then it happened again, and debris was falling, and smoke was filling the cab."

The couple from Prosper was attending a spending business retreat.

"Everyone asked, ‘What did you think had happened?’ All we could think about was, ‘Get out. Get out of the elevator,’" Angela said. "We were on the phone with 911. We were one of the first calls, and they were just as unsure as us."

Their next challenge was getting down safely from the ninth floor.

"It was black. People were hollering and screaming," Scott recalled. "We didn’t know where all the debris and stuff came from until we got out. Then, it was just heading down the stairs, which was very black. So we used our phone light to get out."

"I couldn’t believe it. It appeared to me there's an explosion underground in the cellar area because the sidewalk was completely blown out. Big chunks of the sidewalk were in the street," said James Johnson, who witnessed the explosion.

"We didn’t see the person except being taken away. And his or her head was wrapped up. But they were sitting up. That’s the only injured person we saw," said Kathy Johnson, another witness.